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. 

THE PIONEERS; 

OK, 


THE SOURCES OF THE SUSQUEHANNA. 


A DESCRIPTIVE TALE. 


By J. FENIMORE COOPER. 

tt 


** Extremes of habits, manners, time, and space, 
brought close together, here stood face to face. 
And gave at once a contrast to the view, 

That other lands and ages never knew.” 

Paulding. 


COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. 


NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON. 
459 Broome Street. 

1868. 


Bytransfsr 
Hie White House. 


Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year i860, by 
BTKINGEE AND TOWNSEND 
im the Clerk’s office of the District Court for the southern district of New I >rk, 


PREFACE. 


TO MR CHARLES WILEY, Bookseller. 

Every man is, more or less, the sport of acci- 
dent *, nor do I know that authors are at all ex- 
empted from this humiliating influence. This is 
the third of my novels, and it depends on two ve- 
ry uncertain contingencies, whether it will not be 
the last : — the one being the public opinion, and 
the other mine own humour. The first book was 
written, Decause I was told that I could not write 
a grave tale ; so, to prove that the world did not 
know me, 1 wrote one that was so grave nobody 
would read it ; wherein I think that I had much 
the best of the argument. The second was writ 
fen to see if I could not overcome this neglect of 
the reading world. How far I have succeeded, 
Mr. Charles Wiley, must ever remain a secret 
between ourselves. The third has been written, 
exclusively, to please myself : so it would be no 
wonder if it displeased every body else ; for wha* 
1 * 


6 


PREFACE. 


two ever thought alike, on a subject of the imagina- 
tion ? 

I should think criticism to be the perfection ol 
human acquirements, did there not exist this dis- 
crepancy in taste. Just as I have made up my 
mind to adopt the very sagacious hints of one learn- 
ed Reviewer, a pamphlet is jut into my hands 
containing the remarks of another, who condemns 
all that his rival praises, and praises all that his ri- 
val condemns. There I am, left like an ass be- 
tween two locks of hay ; so that I have deter- 
mined to relinquish my animate nature, and remain 
stationary, like a lock of hay between two asses. 

It is now a long time, say the wise ones, since 
the world has been told all that is new and novel. 
But the Reviewers (the cunning wights!) have 
adopted an ingenious expedient, to give a freshness 
to the most trite idea. They clothe it in a lan- 
guage so obscure and metaphysical, that the reader 
is not about to comprehend their pages without 
some labour. This is called a great “ range of 
thought and not improperly, as I can testify ; 
for, in my own case, I have frequently ranged the 
universe of ideas, and come back again in as per- 
fect ignorance of their meaning as when I set out. 
It is delightful, to see the literati of a circulating 
library get hold of one of these difficult periods 1 
Their praise of the performance is exactly com- 
mensurate with its obscurity. Every body knows, 
that to seem wise is the first requisite in a great 
man. 


PREFACE. 


7 


A common word in the mouths of all Review- 
ers, readers of magazines, and young ladies, when 
speaking of novels, is fc4 keeping and yet there 
are but few who attach the same meaning to it. 
I belong, myself, to the old school, in this particu- 
lar, and think that it applies more to the subject 
in hand, than to any use of terms, or of cant expres- 
sions. As a man might just as well be out of the 
world as out of “ keeping,” I have endeavoured to 
confine myself, in this tale, strictly to its observ 
ance. This is a formidable curb to the imagina- 
tion, as, doubtless, the reader will very soon dis- 
cover ; but under its influence I have ‘come to the 
conclusion, that the writer of a tale, who takes the 
earth for the scene of his story, is in some degree 
bound to respect human nature. Therefore 1 
would advise any one, who may take up this book, 
with the expectation of meeting gods and goddess- 
es, spooks or witches, or of feeling that strong ex- 
citement that is produced by battles and murders, 
to throw it aside at once, for no such interest will 
be found in any of its pages. 

I have already said that it was mine own humour 
that suggested this tale ; but it is a humour that is 
deeply connected with feeling. Happier periods, 
more interesting events, and possibly, more beau- 
teous scenes, might have been selected, to exem- 
plify my subject ; but none of either that would be 
so dear to me. I wish, therefore, to be judged 
more by what I have done, than by my sins ol 
omission. I have introduced one battle, but it if 


8 


PREFACE. 


not of the most Homeric kind. As lor murders, 
the population of a new country will not admit of 
such a waste of human life. There might possibly 
have been one or two hangings, to the manifest ad- 
vantage of the w settlement but then it would 
have been out of “ keeping” with the humane laws 
of this compassionate country. 

The “Pioneers” is now before the world, Mr. 
Wiley, and I shall look to you for the only true 
account of its reception. The critics may write as 
obscurely as they please, and look much wiser than 
they are ; the papers may puff or abuse, as their 
changeful hhmours dictate ; but if you meet me 
with a smiling face, I shall at once know that all 
is essentially well. 

If you should ever have occasion for a preface, 1 
beg you will let me hear from you in reply. 

Yours, truly, 

THE AUTHOR, 

New- York, January 1st, 1823. 


THE PIONEEKS, 


OR THE 

SOURCES OF THE STTSQTTEH^JSnS'A. 


CHAPTER I. 


See, Winter comes, to rule the varied year, 
Sullen and sad, with all his rising train ; 
Vapours, and clouds, and storms — 

Thomson. 


Near the centre of the great State of New-York 
lies an extensive district of country, whose surface 
is a succession of hills and dales, or, to speak with 
greater deference to geographical definitions, ot 
mountains and valleys. It is among these hills that 
the Delaware takes its rise ; and flowing from the 
limpid lakes and thousand springs of this country, 
the numerous sources of the mighty Susquehanna 
meander through the valleys, until, uniting, they 
form one of the proudest streams of which the old 
United States could boast. The mountains are 
generally arable to the top, although instances are 
not wanting, where their sides are jutted with 
rocks, that aid greatly in giving that romantic cha- 
racter to the country, which it so eminently pos- 
sesses. The vales are narrow, rich, and cultivated ; 
with a stream uniformly winding through each 3 


10 


THE PIONEERS. 


now gliding peacefully under the brow of one of 
the hills, and then suddenly shooting across the 
plain, to wash the feet of its opposite rival. Beau- 
tiful and thriving villages are found interspersed 
along the margins of the small lakes, or situated at 
those points of the streams which are favourable to 
manufacturing ; and neat and comfortable farms, 
with every indication of wealth about them, are 
scattered profusely through the vales, and even to 
the mountain tops. Roads diverge in every direc- 
tion, from the even and graceful bottoms of the 
valleys, to the most rugged and intricate passes of 
the hills. Academies, and minor edifices for the 
encouragement of learning, meet the eye of the 
stranger, at every few miles, as he winds his way 
through this uneven territory ; and places for the 
public worship of God abound with that frequency 
which characterizes a moral and reflecting people, 
and with that variety of exterior and canonical go- 
vernment which flows from unfettered liberty of 
conscience. In short, the whole district is hourly 
exhibiting how much can be done, in even a rug- 
ged country, and with a severe climate, under the 
dominion of mild laws, and where every man feels 
a direct interest in the prosperity of a common- 
wealth, of which he knows himself to form a dis- 
tinct and independent part. The expedients of 
the pioneers who first broke ground in the settle- 
ment of this country, are succeeded by the perma- 
nent improvements of the yeoman, who intends to 
leave his remains to moulder under the sod which 
he tills, or, perhaps, of the son, who, born in the 
land, piously wishes to linger around the grave of 
his father. Only forty years have passed since 
this whole territory was a wilderness. 

Very soon after the establishment of the inde- 
pendence of the States by the peace of 1783, the 


THE PIONEERS. 


11 


enterprise of their citizens was directed to a deve* 
lopement of the natural advantages of their widely 
extended dominions. Before the war of the revolu- 
tion the inhabited parts of the colony of New- York 
were limited to less than a tenth of her possessions. 
A narrow belt of country, extending for a short 
distance on either side of the Hudson, with a simi- 
lar occupation of fifty miles on the banks of the 
Mohawk, together with the islands of Nassau and 
Staten, and a few insulated settlements on chosen 
land along the margins of streams, composed the 
country that was then inhabited by less than two 
hundred thousand souls. Within the short period 
we have mentioned, her population has spread itself 
over five degrees of latitude and seven of longi- 
tude, and has swelled to the powerful number of 
nearly a million and a half, who are maintained in 
abundance, and can look forward to ages before the 
evil day must arrive, when their possessions will 
become unequal to their wants. 

Our tale begins in 1793, about seven years after 
the commencement of one of the earliest of those 
settlements, which have conduced to effect that 
magical change in the power and condition of the 
state, to which we have alluded. 

It was near the setting of the sun, on a clear, 
cold day in December of that year, when a sleigh 
was moving slowly up one of the mountains in the 
district which we have described. The day had 
been fine for the season, and but two or three large 
clouds, whose colour seemed brightened by the 
light reflected from the mass of snow that covered 
the earth, floated in a sky of the purest blue. The 
road wound along the brow of a precipice, and on 
one side was upheld by a foundation of logs, piled 
for many feet, one upon the other, while a narrow 
excavation in the mountain, in the opposite direc- 


12 


THE PIONEERS. 


don, had made a passage of sufficient width foi the 
ordinary travelling of that day. But logs, exca- 
vation, and every thing that did not reach for se- 
veral feet above the earth, lay promiscuously bu- 
ried under the snow. A single track, barely wide 
enough to receive the sleigh, denoted the route of 
the highway, and this was sunken near two feet 
below the surrounding surface. In the vale, which 
lay at a distance of several hundred feet beneath 
them, there was what in the language of the coun- 
try was called a clearing , and all the usual im- 
piovements of a new settlement; these even ex- 
tended up the hill to the point where the road 
turned short and ran across the level land, which 
lay on the summit of the mountain ; but the sum- 
mit itself yet remained a forest. There was a 
glittering in the atmosphere, as if it were tilled 
with innumerable shining particles, and the noble 
oay horses that drew 7 the sleigh were covered, in 
many parts, with a coat of frost. The vapour from 
their nostrils was seen to issue like smoke ; and 
every object in the view, as well as every arrange- 
ment of the travellers, denoted the depth of a win- 
ter in the mountains. The harness, which was 
of a deep dull black, differing from the glossy var- 
nishing of the present day, was ornamented with 
enormous plates and buckles of brass, that shone 
like gold in the transient beams of the sun, which 
found their way obliquely through the tops of the 
trees. Huge saddles, studded with nails of the 
same material, and fitted with cloth that admirably 
served as blankets to the shoulders of the animals, 
supported four high, square-topped turrets, through 
which the stout reins led from the mouths of the 
horses to the hands of the driver, who w T as a negro, 
of apparently twenty years of age. His face, which 
nature had coloured with a glistening black, was 


THE PIONEERS. 


13 


now mottled with the cold, and his large shining 
eyes were moistened with a liquid that flowed 
from the same cause ; still there was a smiling ex- 
pression of good humour in his happy countenance, 
that was created by the thoughts of his home, and 
a Christmas fire-side, with its Christmas frolics. 
The sleigh was one of those large, comfortable, 
old-fashioned conveyances, which would admit a 
whole family within its bosom, but which now con- 
tained only two passengers besides the driver. Its 
outside was a modest green, and its inside of a fiery 
red, that was intended to convey the idea of heat 
in that cold climate. Large buffalo skins, trimmed 
around the edges with red cloth, cut into festoons, 
covered the back of the sleigh, and w r ere spread 
over its bottom, and drawn up around the feet of 
the travellers — one of whom was a man of middle 
age, and the other a female, just entering upon 
womanhood. The former was of a large stature ; 
but the precautions he had taken to guard against 
the cold left but little of his person exposed to 
view. A great-coat, that was abundantly orna- 
mented, if it were not made more comfortable, by 
a profusion of furs, enveloped the whole of his 
figure, excepting the head, which was covered with 
a cap of martin skins, lined with morocco, the sides 
of which were made to fall, if necessary, and were 
now drawn close over the ears, and were fastened 
beneath his chin with a black riband ; its top was 
surmounted with the tail of the animal whose skin 
had furnished the materials for the cap, which fell 
back, not ungracefully, a few inches behind the 
head. From beneath this masque were to be seen 
part of a fine manly face, and particularly a pair of 
expressive, large blue eyes, that promised extraor- 
dinary intellect, covert humour, and great bene- 
volence. The form of his companion was liteial 
2 


14 


THE PIONEERS. 


I y hid beneatn the multitude and variety of gar- 
merits which she wore. There were furs and silks 
peeping from under a large camlet cloak, with a 
thick flannel lining, that, by its cut and size, was 
evidently intended for a masculine wearer. A huge 
hood of black silk, that was quilted with down, 
concealed the whole of her head, except at a small 
opening iri front for breath, through which occa- 
sionally sparkled a pair of animated eyes of the 
deepest black. 

Both the father and daughter (for such was the 
connexion between the travellers) were too much 
occupied with their different reflections to break 
the stillness, that received little or no interruption 
from the easy gliding of the sleigh, by the sound 
of their voices. The former was thinking of the 
wife that had held this their only child fondly to 
her bosom, when, four years before, she had re- 
luctantly consented to relinquish the society of her 
daughter, in order that the latter might enjoy the 
advantages which the city could afford to her edu- 
cation. A few months afterward death had de- 
prived him of the remaining companion of his soli- 
tude ; but still he had enough of real regard for his 
child, not to bring her into the comparative wilder- 
ness in which he dwelt, until the full period had 
expired, to which he had limited her juvenile la- 
bours. The reflections of the daughter were less 
melancholy, and mingled with a pleased astonish- 
ment at the novel scenery that she met at every 
turn in the road. 

The mountain on which they were journeying 
was covered with pines, that rose without a branch 
seventy or eighty feet, and which frequently tow- 
ered to an additional height, that more than equal- 
led that elevation. Through the innumerable vis- 
tas that opened beneath the lofty trees the eye 


THE PIONEERS 


15 


could penetrate, until it was met by a distant ine- 
quality in the ground, or was stopped by a view of 
the summit of the mountain which lay on the op- 
posite side of the valley to which they were has- 
tening. The dark trunks of the trees rose from the 
pure white of the snow, in regularly formed shafts, 
until, at a great height, their branches shot forth 
their horizontal limbs, that were covered with the 
meager foliage of an evergreen, affording a melan- 
choly contrast to the torpor of nature below. To 
the travellers there seemed to be no wind ; but 
these pines waved majestically at their topmost 
. boughs, sending forth a dull, sighing sound, that 
was quite in consonance with the scene. 

The sleigh had glided for some distance along 
the even surface, and the gaze of the female was 
bent in inquisitive, and, perhaps, timid glances, in- 
to the recesses of the forest, which were lighted 
by the unsullied covering of the earth, when a loud 
and continued howling was heard, pealing under 
the long arches of the woods, like the cry of a nu- 
merous pack of hounds. The instant the sounds 
reached the ears of the gentleman, whatever might 
have been the subject of his meditations, he forgot 
it ; for he cried aloud to the black — 

“ Hold up, Aggy ; there is old Hector ; I should 
know his bay among ten thousand. The Leather- 
stocking has put his hounds into the hills this clear 
day, and they have started their game, you hear. 
There is a deer-track a few rods ahead ; — and now, 
Bess, if thou canst muster courage enough to stand 
fire, I will give thee a saddle for thy Christmas 
dinner.” 

The black drew up, with a cheerful grin upon 
his chilled features, and began thrashing his arms 
together, in order to restore the circulation to his 
fingers, while the speaker stood erect, and, thr^w 


16 


THE PIONEERS. 


ing aside his outer covering, stept from the sleigh 
upon a bank of snow, which sustained his weight 
without yielding more than an inch or two. A 
storm of sleet had fallen and frozen upon the sur- 
face a few days before, and but a slight snow had 
occurred since to purify, without weakening its co- 
vering. 

In a few moments the speaker succeeded m ex- 
tricating a double-barrelled fowling-piece from 
among a multitude of trunks and bandboxes. Af- 
ter throwing aside the thick mittens which had en- 
cased his hands, that now appeared in a pair of 
leather gloves tipped with fur, he examined his 
priming, and was about to move forward, when the 
light bounding noise of an animal plunging through 
the woods was heard, and directly a fine buck 
darted into the path, a short distance ahead of him. 
The appearance of the animal was sudden, and his 
flight inconceivably rapid ; but the traveller ap 
peared to be too keen a sportsman to be discon 
certed by either. As it came first into view he 
raised the fowling-piece to his shoulder, and, with 
a practised eye and steady hand, drew a trigger ; 
but the deer dashed forward undaunted, and ap- 
parently unhurt. Without lowering his piece, the 
traveller turned its muzzle towards his intended 
victim, and fired again. Neither discharge, how- 
ever, seemed to have taken effect. 

The whole scene had passed with a rapidity that 
confused the female, who was unconsciously rejoic- 
ing in the escape of the buck, as he rather darted 
like a meteor, than ran across the road before her. 
when a sharp, quick sound struck her ear, quite 
different from the full, round reports of her father’s 
gun, but still sufficiently distinct to be known as 
the concussion produced by fire-arms. At the same 
instant that she heard this unexpected report, the 


THE PIONEERS. 


17 


buck sprang from the snow, to a great height in the 
air, and directly a second discharge, similar in 
sound to the first, followed, when the animal came 
to the earth, falling headlong, and rolling over on 
the crust once or twice with its own velocity. A 
loud shout was given by the unseen marksman, as 
triumphing in his better aim ; and a couple of men 
instantly appeared from, behind the trunks of two 
of the pines, where they had evidently placed 
themselves in expectation of the passage of the 
deer. 

u Ha ! Natty, had I known you were in ambush. 
I would not have fired,” cried the traveller, mov- 
ing towards the spot where the deer lay — near to 
which he was followed by the delighted black, 
with the sleigh ; “ but the sound of old Hector 
was too exhilarating to let me be quiet ; though 
I hardly think I struck him either.” 

u No — no — Judge,” returned the hunter, with 
an inward chuckle, and with that look of exulta- 
tion, that indicates a consciousness of superior 
skill ; “ you burnt your powder, only to warm 
your nose this cold evening. Did ye think to stop 
a full grown buck, with Hector and the slut open 
upon him, within sound, with that robin pop-gun 
in your hand ? There’s plenty of pheasants among 
the swamps ; and the snow birds are flying round 
your own door, where you may feed them with 
crumbs, and shoot enough for a pot-pie, any day ; 
but if you’re for a buck, or a little bear’s meat, 
Judge, you’ll have to take the long rifle, with a 
greased wadding, or you’ll waste more powder 
than you’ll fill stomachs, I’m thinking.” 

'As the speaker concluded, he drew his bare 
hand across the bottom of his nose, and again 
opened his enormous mouth with a kind of inward 
laugh. 


2 * 


18 


THE PIONEERS. 


“ The gun scatters well, Natty, and has killed a 
deer before now,” said the traveller, smiling good 
humouredly. “ One barrel was charged with buck 
shot ; but the other w r as loaded for birds only 
Here are tw T o hurts that he has received ; one 
through his neck, and the other directly through 
his heart. It is by no means certain, Natty, but I 
gave him one of the two.” 

“ Let who will kill him,” said the hunter, rather 
surlily, “ I suppose the cretur is to be eaten.” So 
saying, he drew a large knife from a leathern sheath, 
which was stuck through his girdle or sash, and 
cut the throat of the animal. u If there is two 
balls through the deer, I want to know if there 
wasn’t two rifles fired — besides, who ever saw such 
a ragged hole from a smooth-bore, as this is through 
the neck ? — and you will own yourself, Judge, that 
the buck fell at the last shot, which was sent from 
a truer and a younger hand, than your’n or mine 
’ither ; but for my part, although I am a poor man, 
I can live without the venison, but I don’t love tG 
give up my lawful dues in a free country. Though, 
for the matter of that, might often makes right 
here, as well as in the old country, for what I can 
see.” 

An air of sullen dissatisfaction pervaded the 
manner of the hunter during the whole of this 
speech ; yet he thought it prudent to utter the 
close of the sentence in such an under tone, as to 
leave nothing audible but the grumbling sounds of 
his voice. 

“ Nay, Natty,” rejoined the traveller, with un- 
disturbed good humour, “ it is for the honour that 
I contend. A few dollars will pay for the veni- 
son ; but what will requite me for the lost honour 
of a buck’s tail in my cap ? Think, Natty, how I 
should triumph over that quizzing dog, Dick Jones, 


THE PIONEERS. 


13 


who has failed seven times this season already, and 
has only brought in one wood-chuck and a few 
gray squirrels.” 

“ Ah ! the game is becoming hard to find, in- 
deed, Judge, with your clearings and betterments,” 
said the old hunter, with a kind of disdainful re- 
signation. “ The time has been, when I have shot 
thirteen deer, without counting the fa’ns, standing 
in the door of my own hut ! — and for bear’s meat, 
li one wanted a ham or so from the cretur, he had 
only to watch a-nights, and he could shoot one by 
moonlight, through the cracks of the logs ; no fear 
of his over-sleeping himself, n’ither, for the howl- 
ing of the wolves was sartin to keep his eyes open. 
There’s old Hector,” — patting with affection a tall 
hound, of black and yellow spots, with white bel- 
ly and legs, that just then came in on the scent, ac- 
companied by the slut he had mentioned ; “ see 
where the wolves bit his throat, the night I druve 
them from the venison I was smoking on the chim- 
bly top — that dog is more to be trusted nor many 
a Christian man ; for he never forgets a friend, and 
loves the hand that gives him bread.” 

There was a peculiarity in the manner of the 
hunter, that struck the notice of the young female, 
who had been a close and interested observer of 
his appearance and equipments, from the moment 
he first came into view. He was tall, and so mea- 
gre as to make him seem above even the six feet 
that he actually stood in his stockings. On his 
head, which was thinly covered with lank, sandy" 
hair, he wore a cap made of fox-skin, resembling 
in shape the one we have already described, al- 
though much inferior in finish and crnaments. His 
face was skinny, and thin almost to emaciation , 
but yet bore no signs of disease ; — on the contrary, 
it h,ad every indication of the most robust and en- 


20 


THE PIONEERS. 


during health. The cold and the exposure had 
together, given it a colour of uniform red ; his gray 
eyes were glancing under a pair of shaggy brows, 
that overhung them in long hairs of gray mingled 
with their natural hue ; his scraggy neck was bare, 
and burnt to the same tint with his face ; though 
a small part of a shirt collar, made of the country 
check, was to be seen above the over-dress he 
wore. A kind of coat, made of dressed deer-skin, 
with the hair on, was belted close to his lank body, 
by a girdle of coloured worsted. On his feet were 
deer-skin moccasins, ornamented with porcupines’ 
quills, after the manner of the Indians, and his limbs 
were guarded with long leggings of the same ma- 
terial as the moccasins, which, gartering over the 
knees of his tarnished buck-skin breeches, had ob- 
tained for him, among the settlers, the nick-name 
of Leather-stocking, notwithstanding his legs were 
protected beneath, in winter, by thick garments of 
woollen, duly made of good blue yarn. Over his 
left shoulder was slung a belt of deer-skin, from 
which depended an enormous ox horn, so thinly 
scraped, as to discover the dark powder that it con- 
tained. The larger end was fitted ingeniously and 
securely with a wooden bottom, and the other was 
stopped tight by a little plug. A leathern pouch 
hung before him, from which, as he concluded his 
last speech, he took a small measure, and, filling it 
accurately with powder, he commenced reloading 
the rifle, which, as its butt rested on the snow be^ 
fore him, reached nearly to the top of his fox-skin 
cap. 

The traveller had been closely examining the 
wounds during these movements, and now, with- 
out heeding the ill-humour of the hunter’s man- 
ner, exclaimed — 

“ I would fain establish a right, Natty, to ^the 


THE PIONEERS. 


21 


nonour of this capture ; and surely if the hit in the 
neck be mine, it is enough ; for the shot in the 
heart was unnecessary — what we call an act of su- 
pererogation, Leather-stocking.” 

u You may call it by what larned name you 
please, Judge,” said the hunter, throwing his rifle 
across his left arm, and knocking up a brass lid 
in the breech, from w r hich he took a small piece of 
greased leather, and wrapping a ball in it, forced 
them down by main strength on the powder, where 
he continued to pound them while speaking. “It’s 
far easier to call names, than to shoot a buck on 
the spring ; but the cretur come by his end from 
a younger hand than ’ither your’n or mine, as 1 
said before.” 

“ What say you, my friend,” cried the traveller, 
turning pleasantly to Natty’s companion; “ shall 
we toss up this dollar for the honour, and you keep 
the silver if you lose ; what say you, friend ?” 

u That I killed the deer,” answered the young 
man, with a little haughtiness, as he leaned on 
another long rifle, similar to that of Natty’s. 

“ Here are two to one, indeed,” replied the 
Judge, with a smile ; “I am outvoted — overruled, 
as we say on the bench. There is Aggy, he can’t 
vote, being a slave ; and Bess is a minor — so I 
must even make the best of it. But you’ll sell 
me the venison ; and the deuce is in it, but I make 
a good story about its death.” 

“ The meat is none of mine to sell,” said Lea- 
ther-stocking, adopting a little of his companion’s 
hauteur; u for my part, I have known animals 
travel days with shots in the neck, and I’m none 
of them who’ll rob a man of his rightful dues.” 

u You are tenacious of your rights, this cold eve- 
ning, Natty,” returned the Judge, with unconquer- 


22 


THE PIONEERS. 


able good nature ; u but what say you, young 
man, will three dollars pay you for the buck ?” 

“ First let us determine the question of right to 
the satisfaction of us both,” said the youth, firmly 
but respectfully, and with a pronunciation and lan- 
guage vastly superior to his appearance ; a with 
how many shot did you load your gun ?” 

“ With five, sir,” said the Judge, gravely, a lit- 
tle struck with the other’s manner ; “ are they not 
enough to slay a buck like this ?” 

“ One would do it ; but,” moving to the tree 
from behind which he had appeared, u you know, 
sir, you fired in this direction — here are four of 
the bullets in the tree.” 

The Judge examined the fresh marks in the 
rough bark of the pine, and shaking his head, said- 
with a laugh — 

“ You are making out the case against yourself, 
my young advocate — where is the fifth ?” 

M Here,” said the youth, throwing aside the rough 
over-coat that he wore, and exhibiting a hole in 
his under garment, through which large drops of 
blood were oozing. 

u Good God !” exclaimed the Judge, with hor- 
ror ; “ have I been trifling here about an empty 
distinction, and a fellow-creature suffering from my 
hands without a murmur ? But hasten — quick — 
get into my sleigh — it is but a mile to the village, 
where surgical aid can be obtained ; — all shall be 
done at my expense, and thou shalt live with me 
until thy wound is healed — ay, and for ever after- 
wards, too.” 

“ I thank you, sir, for your good intention, but 
must decline your offer. I have a friend who 
would be uneasy were he to hear that I am hurt 
and away from him. The injury is but slight, and 


THE PIONEERS. 


23 


the bullet has missed the bones , but I believe, sir, 
you will now admit my title to the venison.” 

“ Admit it !” repeated the agitated Judge ; “ I 
here give thee a right to shoot deer, or bears, 01 
any thing thou pleasest in my woods, for ever. 
Leather-stocking is the only other man that I have 
granted the same privilege to ; and the time is 
coming when it will be of value. But I buy your 
deer — here, this bill will pay thee, both for thy 
shot and my own.” 

The old hunter gathered his tall person up into 
an air of pride, during this dialogue, and now mut- 
tered in an under tone — 

<c There’s them living who say, that Nathaniel 
Bumppo’s right to shoot in these hills, is of older 
date than Marmaduke Temple’s right to forbid him. 
But if there’s a law about it at all, though who 
ever heard tell of a law that a man should’nt kill 
deer where he pleased ! — but if there is a law at 
all, it should be to keep people from the use of 
them smooth-bores. A body never knows where 
his lead will fly, when he pulls the trigger of one 
of them fancified -fire-arms.” 

Without attending to the soliloquy of Natty, the 
youth bowed his head silently to the offer of the 
bank note, and replied — 

<c - Excuse me, sir, I have need of the venison.” 
“ But this will buy you many deer,” said the 
Judge ; “ take it, I entreat you,” and lowering his 
voice to nearly a whisper, he added — “ it is for a 
nundred dollars.” 

For an instant only, the youth seemed to hesi- 
tate, and then, blushing even through the high co- 
our that the cold had given to his cheeks, as if 
with inward shame at his own weakness, he again 
proudly declined the offer. 

During this scene the female arose, and, regard • 


24 


THE PIONEERS. 


Less of the cold air, she threw back the hood which 
concealed her features, and now spoke, with great 
earnestness — 

“ Surely, surely, — young man — sir — you would 
not pain my father so much, as to have him think 
that he leaves a fellow-creature in this wilderness, 
whom his own hand has injured. I entreat you 
will go with us and receive medical aid for your 
hurts.” 

Whether his wound became more painful, or, 
there was something irresistible in the voice and 
manner of the fair pleader for her father’s feelings, 
we know not, but the haughty distance of the 
young man’s manner was sensibly softened by this 
appeal, and he stood, in apparent doubt, as if re- 
luctant to comply with, and yet unwilling to refuse 
her request. The judge, for such being his office, 
mast in future be his title, watched, with no little 
interest, the display of this singular contention in 
the feelings of the youth, and advancing, kindly 
took his hand, and, as he pulled him gently to- 
wards the sleigh, urged him to enter it. 

“ There is no human aid nearer than Temple- 
ton,” he said ; u and the hut of Natty is full three 
miles from this ; — come — come, my young friend, 
go with us, and let the new doctor look to this 
shoulder of thine. Here is Natty will take' the 
tidings of thy welfare to thy friend ; and should’st 
thou require it, thou shalt be returned to thy home 
in the morning.” 

The young man succeeded in extricating his hand 
from the warm grasp of the judge, but continued to 
gaze on the face of the female, who, regardless of 
the cold, was still standing with her fine features 
exposed, which expressed feelings that eloquently 
seconded the request of her father. Leather- 
stocking stood, in the mean time, leaning upon his 


THE PIONEERS. 


£5 

long rifle, with his head turned a little to one side, 
as if engaged in deep and sagacious musing ; when, 
having apparently satisfied his doubts, by revolving 
the subject in his mind, he broke silence — 

“ It may be best to go, lad, after all ; for if the 
shot hangs under the skin, my hand is getting too 
aid to be cutting into human flesh, as I once used 
to. Though some thirty years agone, in the old 
war, when I was out under Sir William, I travel- 
led seventy miles alone in the howling wilder- 
ness, with a rifle bullet in my thigh, and then cut 
it out with my own jack-knife. Old Indian John 
ktiows the time well. I met him with a party of 
the Delawares, on the trail of the Iroquois, who 
had been down and taken five scalps on the Scho- 
harie. But I made a mark on the red-skin that I’H 
warrant he carried to his grave. I took him on his 
posteerum, saving the lady’s presence, as he got 
up from the amboosh, and rattled three buck shot 
into his naked hide, so close, that you might have 
laid a broad joe upon them all — ” here Natty 
stretched out his long neck, and straightened his 
body, as he opened his mouth, which exposed a 
single tusk of yellow bone, while his eyes, his face, 
even his \\ nele frame, seemed to laugh, although 
no sound was emitted, except a kind of thick hiss- 
ing, as he inhaled his breath in quavers. u I had 
lost my bullet mould in crossing the Oneida outlet, 
and so had to make shift with the buck shot ; but 
the rifle was true, and did’nt scatter like your two- 
legged thing there, Judge, which don’t do, I find, 
to hunt in company with.” 

Natty’s apology to the delicacy of the young lady 
was unnecessary, for, while he was speaking, she 
was too much employed in helping her lather to 
remove certain articles of their baggage to hear 
him. Unable to resist the kind urgency of the 
3 


26 


THE PIONEERS. 


travellers any longer, the youth, though still with 
an unaccountable reluctance expressed in his man- 
ner, suffered himself to be persuaded to enter the 
sleigh. The black, with the aid of his master, 
threw the buck across the baggage, and entering 
the vehicle themselves, the judge invited the hunter 
to do so likewise. 

“ No — no — ” said the old man, shaking his 
head ; “ I have work to do at home this Christmas 
eve — drive on with the boy, and let your doctor 
look to the shoulder ; though if he will only cut 
out the shot, I have yarbs that will heal the wound 
quicker nor all his foreign ’intments.” He turned 
and was about to move oF, when, suddenly recol- 
lecting himself, he again faced the party, and added 
— u If you see any thing of Indian John about the 
foot of the lake, you had better take him with you, 
and let him lend the doctor a hand ; for old as he 
is, he is curious at cuts and bruises, and it’s like- 
lier than not he’ll be in with brooms to sweep your 
Christmas ha’arths.” 

“ Stop— stop,” cried the youth, catching the 
arm of the black as he prepared to urge his horses 
forward ; “ Natty — you need say nothing of the 
shot, nor of where I am going — remember, Natty, 
as you love me.” 

“ Trust old Leather-stocking,” returned the 
hunter, significantly ; “ he has’nt lived forty years 
in the wilderness, and not larnt from the savag.es 
how to hold his tongue-trust to me, lad ; and re- 
member old Indian John.” 

“ And, Natty,” said the youth eagerly, still 
holding the black by the arm, “ I will just get the 
shot extracted, and bring you up, to-night, a quar 
ter of the buck, for the Christmas dinner.” 

He was interrupted by the hunter, who held up 
his finger with an expressive gesture for silence, 


THE PIONEERS. 


27 


and moved softly along the margin of the road, 
keeping his eyes steadfastly fixed on the branches 
of a pine near him. When he had obtained such 
a position as he wished, he stopped, and cocking 
his rifle, threw one leg far behind him, and stretch- 
ing his left arm to its utmost extent along the bar- 
rel of his piece, he began slowly to raise its muz- 
zle in a line with the straight trunk of the tree. 
The eyes of the group in the sleigh naturally pre- 
ceded the movement of the rifle, and they soon 
discovered the object of Natty’s aim. On a small 
dead branch of the pine, which, at the distance of 
seventy feet from the ground, shot out horizontal- 
ly, immediately beneath the living members of the 
tree, sat a bird, that in the vulgar language of the 
country was indiscriminately called a pheasant 
or a partridge. In size, it vms but little smaller 
than a common barn-yard fowl. The baying of 
the dogs, and the conversation that had passed 
near the root of the tree on which it was perched, 
had alarmed the bird, which was now drawn up 
near the body of the pine, with a head and neck 
erect, that formed nearly a straight line with its 
legs. So soon as the rifle bore on the victim, 
N atty drew his trigger, and the partridge fell from 
its height with a force that buried it in the snow 
“ Lie down, you old villain,” exclaimed Lea- 
ther-stocking, shaking his ramrod at Hector as he 
bounded towards the foot of the tree, “ lie down, 
I say.” The dog obeyed, and Natty proceeded, 
with great rapidity, though with the nicest accu- 
racy, to reload his piece. When this was ended, 
he took up his game, and showing it to the party 
without a head, he cried — “ Here is a nice tit-bit 
for an old man’s Christmas — never mind the veni- 
son, boy, and remember Indian John ; his yarbs 
are better nor all the foreign ’intments. Here, 


28 


THE PIONEERS. 


Judge,” holding up the bird again, “ do you think 
a smooth-bore would pick game off their roost, and 
not ruffle a feather ?” The old man gave another 
ol his remarkable laughs, which partook so largely 
of exultation, mirth, and irony, and shaking his 
head, he turned, with his rifle at a trail, and 
moved into the forest with short and quick steps, 
that were between a walk and a trot. At each 
movement that he made his body lowered several 
inches, his knees yielding with an inclination in- 
ward ; but as the sleigh turned at a bend in the 
road, the youth cast his eyes in quest of his old 
companion, and he saw that he was already nearly 
concealed by the trunks of the trees, while his dogs 
were following quietly in his footsteps, occasionally 
scenting the deer track, that they seemed to know 
instinctively was 5io\t of no further use to them. 
Another jerk was given to the sleigh, and Leather- 
stocking was hidden from view. 


CHAPTER II. 


All places tnat the eye of Heaven visits, 

Are to a wise man ports and happy havens : — 
Think not the king did banish thee : 

But thou the king. — 

Richard II. 


An ancestor of Marmaduke Temple had, about 
one hundred and twenty years before the commence- 
ment of our tale, come to the colony of Pennsyl- 
vania, a friend and co-religionist of its great patron. 
Old Marmaduke, for this formidable prenomen was 
a kind of appellative to the race, brought with him, 
to that asylum of the persecuted, an abundance of 
the good things of this life. He became the mas- 
ter of many thousands of acres of uninhabited ter- 
ritory, and the supporter of many a score of de- 
fendants. He lived greatly respected for his piety, 
and not a little distinguished as a sectary : was in- 
trusted by his associates with many important po- 
litical stations; and died just in time to escape the 
knowledge of his own poverty. It was his lot to 
share the fortune of most of those who brought 
wealth with them into the new settlements of the 
middle colonies. 

The consequence of an emigrant into these pro- 
vinces was generally to be ascertained by the num- 
ber of his white servants or dependants, and the 
nature of the public situations that he held. Tak- 
ing this rule as a guide, the ancestor of our Judge 
must have been a man of no little note. 

3 * 


30 


THE PIONEERS. 


It is, however, a subject of curious inquiry at tht. 
present day, to look into the brief records of that 
early period, and observe how regular, and with 
few exceptions how inevitable, were the gradations, 
on the one hand, of the masters to poverty, and 
on the other, of their servants to wealth. Accus- 
tomed to ease, and unequal to the struggles inci- 
dent to an infant society, the affluent emigrant was 
barely enabled to maintain his own rank, by the 
weight of his personal superiority and acquire- 
ments ; but the moment that his head was laid in 
the grave, his indolent, and comparatively unedu- 
cated offspring, were compelled to yield prece- 
dency to the more active energies of a class, whose 
exertions had been stimulated by necessity. This 
is a very common course of things, even in the 
present state of the Union ; but it was peculiarly 
the fortunes of the two extremes of society, in the 
peaceful and unenterprising colonies of Pennsyl- 
vania and New-Jersey. 

The posterity of Marmaduke did not escape the 
common lot of those, who depended rather on their 
hereditary possessions than on their own powers ; 
and in the third generation, they had descended to 
a point, below which, in this happy country, it is 
barely possible for honesty, intellect, and sobriety, 
to fall. The same pride of family that had, by its 
self-satisfied indolence, conduced to aid their fall, 
now became a principle to stimulate them to en- 
deavour to rise again. The feeling, from being 
morbid was ch mged to a healthful and active de- 
sire to emulate the character, the condition, and 
peradventure, the wealth, of their ancestors also. 
It was the father of our new acquaintance, the 
Judge, who first began to re-ascend the scale of 
society : and in this undertaking he was not a little 
assisted by a marriage that he formed, which aided 


THE PIONK F.Rh. 


31 


greatly in furnishing the means of educating his 
only son, in a rather better manner than the low 
state of the common schools in Pennsylvania could 
promise ; or than had been the practice in the 
family, for the two or three preceding geneiations. 

At the school where the reviving prosperity of 
his father was enabled to maintain him, young 
Marmaduke formed an intimacy with a youth, 
whose years were about equal to his own. This 
was a fortunate connexion for our judge, and 
oaved the way to most of his future elevation in 
ife, when the early inclination for each other in 
the boys was matured into friendship. 

There was not only great wealth, but high court 
interest, among the connexions of Edward Effing- 
ham. They were one of the very few families, 
then resident in the colonies, who thought it a de- 
gradation to its members to descend to the pursuits 
of commerce : and who never emerged from the 
privacy of their domestic life, unless to preside in 
the councils of the colonv, or to bear arms in her de- 
fence. The latter had, from youth to approaching 
age, been the only employment of Edward’s father. 
Military rank, under the crown of Great Britain, 
was, sixty years ago, attained with much longer 
probation, and by much more toilsome services, 
than at the present time. Years were passed 
without murmuring, in the subordinate grades of the 
service ; and those soldiers who were stationed in 
the colonies, felt, when they obtained the command 
of a company, that they were entitled to receive 
the greatest deference from the peaceful occupants 
of the soil. Any one of our readers, who in a 
visit to the falls, has occasion to cross the Niagara, 
by spending a day at Newark, may easily observe, 
not only the self-importance, but the real estima- 
tion enjoyed by the humblest representative of tb 


32 


THE PIONEERS. 


crown, even in that polar region of royal sunshine. 
Such, and at no very distant period, was the re- 
spect paid to the military in these States, where 
now, happily, no symbol of war is ever seen, un- 
less at the free and fearless voice of their peo- 
ple. When, therefore, the father of Marmaduke’s 
friend, after forty years’ service, retired with the 
rank of Major, maintaining in his domestic establish- 
ment a comparative splendour, it is not be doubted 
but that he became a man of the first consideration 
in his native colony — which was that of New- 
York. He had served with fidelity and courage, 
and having been, according to the custom of the 
provinces, intrusted with commands much superioi 
to those to which he was entitled by rank, with 
reputation also. When Major Effingham yielded 
to the claims of age, he retired with dignity, re- 
fusing his half-pay or any other compensation for 
services, that he felt he could no longer perform. 

The ministry proffered to his acceptance various 
civil offices, which yielded not only honour but pro- 
fit ; but he declined them all, with the chivalrous 
independence and loyalty that had marked his 
character through life. The veteran soon caused 
this act of patriotic disinterestedness to be follow- 
ed by another of private munificence, that, how- 
ever little it accorded with prudence, was in per- 
fect conformity with the simple integrity of his 
own views. 

The friend of Marmaduke was his only child ; 
and to this son, on his marriage with a lady to 
whom the father was particularly partial, the Ma- 
jor gave a complete conveyance of his whole 
estate, consisting of moneys in the funds, a town 
and country residence, sundry valuable farms in 
the old parts of the colony, and large tracts of 
wild land in the new — in this manner throwing 


THE PIONEERS. 


himself upon the filial piety of his child for his 
own future maintenance. Major Effingham, in 
declining the liberal offers of the British ministry, 
had subjected himself to the suspicion of having 
attained his dotage, by all those who throng the 
avenues to court patronage, even in the remotest 
corners of that vast empire ; but, when he thus 
voluntarily stript himself of his great personal 
wealth, the remainder of the community seemed 
instinctively to adopt the conclusion also, that 
he had reached a second childhood. This may 
explain the fact of his importance rapidly declin- 
ing ; and, if privacy was his object, the veteran 
had soon a free indulgence of his wishes. What- 
ever views the world might entertain of this act 
of the Major, to himself and to his child, it seem- 
ed no more than a natural gift by a father, of those 
immunities which he could no longer enjoy or im- 
prove, to a son, who was formed, both by nature 
knd education, to do both. The younger Effing- 
ham did not object to the amount of the donation ; 
r or he felt that while his parent reserved a moral 
control over his actions, he was relieving himself 
from a fatiguing burthen : such, indeed, was the 
confidence existing between them, that to neither 
did it seem any thing more, than removing money 
from one pocket to another. 

One of the first acts of the young man, on com- 
ing into possession of his wealth, was to seek his 
early friend, with a view to offer any assistance, 
that it was now in his power to bestow. 

The death of Mannaduke’s father, and the con- 
sequent division of his small estate, rendered such 
din offer extremely acceptable to the young Penn • 
sylvanian : he felt his own powers, and saw, not 
mily the excellences, but the foibles, in the cha- 
racter of his friend. Effingham was by nature in- 


34 


HIE PIONEERS. 


dolent, confiding, and at times impetuous and indis- 
creet ; but Marmaduke was uniformly equable, pene- 
trating, and full of activity and enterprise. To the 
latter, therefore, the assistance, or rather connexion 
that was proffered to him, seemed to promise a 
mutual advantage. It was cheerfully accepted, and the 
arrangement of its conditions left entirely to the dic- 
tates of his own judgment. A mercantile house was 
established in the metropolis of Pennsylvania, with the 
avails of Mr Effingham’s personal property; all, oi 
nearly all, of which was put into the possession of Tem- 
ple, who was the only ostensible proprietor in the con- 
cern, while, in secret, the other was entitled to an equal 
participation in the profits. This connexion was thus 
kept private for two reasons; one of which, in the 
freedom of their intercourse, was frankly avowed to 
Marmaduke, while the other continued profoundly hid 
in the bosom of his friend. The last was nothing more 
than pride. To the descendant of a line of soldiers, 
commerce, even in that indirect manner, seemed a de- 
grading pursuit; and every sentiment of young Ef- 
fingham was opposed to the acknowledgment of an 
arrangement, which he only reconciled to his private 
feelings, by a knowledge of his own motives — but an 
insuperable obstacle to the disclosure existed in the 
prejudices of his father. 

We have already said that Major Effingham had 
served as a soldier with reputation. On one occasion, 
while in command on the western frontier of Pennsylva- 
nia, against a league of the French and Indians, not only 
his glory, but the safety of himself and his troops were jeo- 
parded, by the peaceful policy of that colony. To the sol- 
dier, this was an unpardonable offence. He was fighting 
in their defence, only he knew that the mild prim 


THE PIONEERS. 


35 


ciples of this little nation of practical Christians 
would be disregarded by their subtle and malig- 
nant enemies ; and he felt the injury the more 
deeply, because he saw that the avowed object of 
the colonists, in withholding their succours, would 
only have a tendency to expose his command, 
without preserving the peace. The gallant soklier 
succeeded, after a desperate conflict, in extricating 
himself with a handful of his men, from their 
murderous enemy : but he never forgave the peo- 
ple who had exposed him to a danger, which they 
left him to combat alone. It was in vain to tell 
him, that they had no agency in his being placed on 
their frontier at all ; it was evidently for their 
benefit that he had been so placed, and it was their 
“ religious duty,” so the Major always expressed 
it ; “ it was their religious duty to have supported 
him.” 

At no time was the old soldier an admirer of 
the peaceful disciples of Fox. Their disciplined 
habits, both of mind and body, had endowed them 
with great physical perfection ; and the eye of the 
veteran was apt to scan the fair proportions and 
athletic frames of the colonists, with a look that 
seemed to utter volumes of contempt for their 
moral imbecility. He was also a little addicted to 
the expression of a belief, that, where there was 
so great an observance of the externals of reli- 
gion, there could not be much of the substance. — 
It is not our task to explain what is, or ought to be, 
the substance of Christianity, but merely to record 
in this place the opinions of Major Effingham. 

Knowing the sentiments of the father, in i ela- 
tion to this people, it was no wonder that the sen 
hesitated to avow his connexion with, nay, even 
his dependence on the integrity of, a quaker. 

It has been seen that Marmaduke deduced his 


86 


THE PIONEERS. 


origin from the contemporaries and friends of 
Penn. His father had married without the pale 
of the church to which he belonged, and had, in 
this manner, forfeited some of the privileges of 
his offspring. Still, as young Marmaduke was 
educated in a colony and society, where even the 
ordinary intercourse between friends was tinc- 
tured with the aspect of this mild religion, his 
habits and language were somewhat marked by its 
peculiarities. His own marriage at a future day 
with a lady without, not only the pale, but the 
influence of this sect of religionists, had a tenden- 
cy, it is true, to weaken his early impressions ; 
still he retained them, in some degree, to the hour 
of his death, and was observed uniformly, when 
much interested or agitated, to speak in the lan- 
guage of his youth — But this is anticipating our 
tale. 

When Marmaduke first became the partner ol 
young Effingham, he was quite the quaker in ex- 
ternals ; and it was too dangerous an experiment 
for the son to think of encountering the preju 
dices of the father on this subject. The connex- 
ion, therefore, remained a profound secret to all 
but those who were interested in it. 

For a few years, Marmaduke directed the com- 
mercial operations of his house with a prudence 
and sagacity, that afforded rich returns for the 
labour and hazard incurred. He married the lady 
we have mentioned, who was the mother of Eliza- 
beth, and the visits of his friend were becoming 
more frequent ; and there was a speedy prospect 
of removing the veil from their intercourse, as its 
advantages became each hour more apparent to 
Mr. Effingham, when the troubles that preceded 
the war of the revolution extended themselves to 
an alarming degree. 


THE PIONEERS. 


SI 

Educated in the most dependent loyalty by his fa- 
ther, Mr. Effingham had, from the commencement 
of the disputes between the colonists and the 
crown, warmly maintained, what he believed to 
be, the just prerogatives of his prince ; while on 
the other hand, the clear head and independent 
mind of Temple had induced him to espouse the 
cause of the people. Both might have been 
influenced by early impressions ; for, if the son of 
the loyal and gallant soldier bowed in implied 
obedience to the will of his sovereign, the de- 
scendant of the persecuted follower of Penn 
looked back, with a little bitterness, to the un 
merited wrongs that had been heaped upon his 
ancestors. 

This difference in opinion had long been a sub- 
ject of amicable dispute between them, but, latter- 
ly, the contest was getting to be too important to 
admit of trivial discussions on the part of Marma- 
duke, whose acute discernment was already catch- 
ing faint glimmerings of the important events that 
were in embryo. The sparks of dissension soon 
kindled into a blaze ; and the colonies, or rather, 
as they quickly declared themselves, the states, 
became a scene of strife and bloodshed for years. 

A short time before the battle of Lexington, 
Mr. Effingham, already a widower, transmitted to 
Marmaduke, for safe-keeping, all his valuable 
effects and papers ; and left the colony without his 
father. The war had, however, scarcely com- 
menced in earnest, when he re-appeared in New- 
York, wearing the livery of his king, and in a 
short time he took the field at the head of a pro- 
vincial corps. In the mean time, Marmaduke had 
completely committed himself in the cause, as if 
was then called, of the rebellion : of course, all 
intercourse between the friends ceased — cn the 
4 


3b 


THE PIONEERS 


part of Coi. Effingham it was unsought, and on 
that of Marmaduke there was a cautious reserve, 
ft soon became necessary for the latter to abandon 
the capital of Philadelphia; but he had taken the 
precaution to remove to the interior the whole oi 
his effects, beyond the reach of the royal forces, 
including the papers of his friend also. There he 
continued serving his country during the struggle, 
in various civil capacities, and always with dignity 
and usefulness. While, however, he discharged 
his functions with credit and fidelity, Marmaduke 
never seemed to lose sight of his own interests ; 
for, when the estates of the adherents of the 
crown fell under the hammer, by the acts of con- 
fiscation, he appeared in New-York, and became 
the purchaser of extensive possessions at, compa- 
ratively, very low prices. 

It is true that Marmaduke, by thus purchasing 
estates that had been wrested by violence from 
others, rendered himself obnoxious to the cen- 
sures of that sect, which, at the same time that it 
discards its children from a full participation in the 
family union, seems ever unwilling to abandon 
them entirely to the world But either his suc- 
cess, or the frequency of the transgression in 
others, soon wiped off this slight stain from his 
character : and although there were a few, who, 
dissatisfied with their own fortunes, or conscious 
of their own demerits, would make dark hints 
concerning the sudden prosperity of the unpor- 
fioned quaker, yet his services, and possibly his 
wealth, soon drove the recollection of these vague 
conjectures from men’s minds. 

When the war was ended, and the indepen- 
dence of the states acknowledged, Mr. Temple 
turned his attention from the pursuit of commerce, 
which was then fluctuating and uncertain, to the 


THE PIONEERS. 


39 


settlement of those tracts of land which he hae 
purchased. Aided by a good deal of money, and 
directed by the suggestions of a strong and practi- 
cal reason, his enterprises throve to a degree, that 
the climate and rugged face of the country which 
he selected would stem to forbid. His property 
increased in a tenfold ratio, and he was already to 
be ranked among the most wealthy and important 
of his countrymen. To inherit this wealth he 
had but one child — the daughter whom we have 
introduced to the reader, and whom he was now 
conveying from school, to preside over a house- 
hold that had too long wanted a mistress. 

When the district in which his estates lay, hae 
become sufficiently populous to be set off as a 
county, Mr. Temple had, according to the custom 
of the new settlements, been selected to fill its 
highest judicial station. This might make a Tem- 
plar smile, but in addition to the apology of neces- 
sity, there is ever a dignity in talents and expe- 
rience, that is commonly sufficient, in any station, 
for the protection of its possessor; and Marma- 
duke, more fortunate in his native clearness of 
mind than the judge of King Charles, not only 
decided right, but was generally able to give a 
very good reason for it. At all events, such was 
the universal practice of the country and the 
times ; and Judge Temple, so far from ranking 
among the lowest of his judicial contemporaries in 
the courts of the new counties, felt himself, and 
was unanimously acknowledged to be, among the 
first. 

We shall here close this brief explanation of the 
history and character of some of our personages, 
leaving them in future to speak and act for them- 
selves. 


CHAPTER III 


All that thou see’at, is nature’s handy-work , 

Those rocks that upward throw their mossy brows 
Like castled pinnacles of the elder times ! 

These venerable steins, that slowly rock 
Their tow’ring branches in the wintry gale 1 
That field of frost, which glitters in the sun, 
Mocking the whiteness of a marble breast ! — 

Yet man can mar such works with his rude taste, 
Like some sad spo&r of a virgin’s fame. 

Duo. 


Some little while elapsed, after the horses had 
resumed their journey, ere Marmaduke Temple 
was sufficiently recovered from his agitation to 
scan the person of his new companion. He now 
observed, that he was a youth of some two or 
three and twenty years of age ; and rather above 
the middle height. Further observation was pre- 
vented by the rough overcoat which was belted 
close to his form by a worsted sash, much like the 
one worn by the old hunter. The eyes of the 
Judge, after resting a moment on the figure of the 
stranger, were raised to a scrutiny of his coun- 
tenance. There had been a contraction of the 
brows, and a look of care, visible in the features 
of the youth, when he first entered the sleigh, 
that had not only attracted the notice of Elizabeth, 
but which she had been much puzzled to interpiet 


THE PIONEERS. 


41 


The passion seemed the strongest when he was 
enjoining his old companion to secrecy ; and when 
he had decided, and was, rather passively, suffer- 
ing himself to be conveyed to the village, the ex- 
pression of the young man’s eyes by no means 
indicated any great degree of self-satisfaction at 
the step. But the lines of an uncommonly pre- 
possessing countenance were gradually becoming 
composed ; and he now sat in silent, and apparent- 
ly abstracted musing. The Judge gazed at him 
for some time with earnestness, and then smiling 
as if at his own forgetfulness, he spoke — 

u I believe, my young friend, that terror has 
driven your name from my recollection — your face 
is very familiar to me, and yet for the honour of a 
score of buck’s-tails in my cap, I could not tell 
your name.” 

“ I came into the country but three weeks 
since, sir,” returned the youth coldly, “ and I un- 
derstand you have been absent more than that 
time.” 

“ It will be five to-morrow. Yet your face is 
one that I have seen ; though it would not be 
strange, such has been my affright, should I see 
thee in thy winding-sheet walking by my bed- 
side, to-night. What say’st thou, Bess? Am I 
compos mentis or not? — Fit to charge a grand 
Jury, or, what is just now of more pressing neces- 
sity, able to do the honours of a Christmas-eve in 
the hall of Templeton ?” 

“ More able to do either, my dear father,” said 
a playful voice from under the ample enclosures 
of the hood, “than to kill deer with a smooth- 
bore.” A short pause followed ; and the same 
voice, but in a different accent, continued — “ We 
shall have good reasons for our thanksgiving to- 
*'ig;bt, on more accounts than one.” 


42 


THE PIONEERS. 


A slightly scornful smile passed over the fea- 
tures of the youth, at the archness of the first 
part of this speech ; but it instantly vanished, as 
he listened to the tremulous tones in which it 
was concluded. The Judge, also, seemed to be 
affected with the consciousness of how narrowly 
he had escaped taking the life of a fellow-creature, 
and, for some time, there was a dead silence in the 
sleigh. 

The horses soon reached a point, where they 
seemed to know by instinct that their journey was 
nearly ended, and, bearing on the bits, as they 
tossed their heads, uneasily, up and down, they 
rapidly drew the sleigh over the level land, which 
lay on the top of the mountain, and soon came to 
the point where the road descended suddenly, but 
circuitously, into the valley. 

The Judge was roused from his reflections, 
when he saw the four columns of dense smoke, 
which floated along the air from his own chimneys. 
As house, village, and valley burst on his sight, he 
exclaimed cheerfully to his daughter — 

“ See, Bess, there is thy resting-place for life ! 
And thine too, young man, if thou wilt consent to 
dwell with us.” 

The eyes of the youth and maiden involuntarily 
met, as the Ju Ige, in the warmth of his feelings, 
thus included them in an association which was to 
endure so long ; and if the deepening colour, that, 
notwithstanding her hood, might be seen gather 
ing over the face even to the forehead of Eliza- 
beth, was contradicted in its language by the 
proud expression of her eye, the scornful but 
covert smile that again played about the lips of 
the stranger, seemed equally to deny the prob- 
ability of his consenting to form one of this 
family group. The scene was one, however. 


THE PIONEERS. 


43 


which might easily warm a heart less given to phil 
anthropy than that of Marmaduke Temple. 

The side of the mountain, on which our travel- 
lers were journeying, though not absolutely per- 
pendicular, was yet so steep as to render great care 
necessary in descending the rude and narrow path, 
which, in that early day, wound along the preci- 
pices. The negro reined in his impatient steeds, 
and time was given to Elizabeth to dwell on a 
scene which was so rapidly altering under the 
hands of man, that it only resembled, in its out- 
lines, the picture she had so often studied, with de- 
light, in her childhood. On the right, and stretch- 
ing for several miles to the north, lay a narrow 
plain, buried among mountains, which, falling oc- 
casionally, jutted in long low points, that were co- 
vered with tall trees, into the valley ; and then 
again, for miles, stretched their lofty brows per- 
pendicularly along its margin, nourishing in the 
crags that formed their sides, pines and hemlocks 
thinly interspersed with chesnut and beech, which 
grew in lines nearly parallel to the mountains 
themselves. The dark foliage of the evergreens 
was brilliantly contrasted by the glittering white- 
ness of the plain, which exhibited, over the tops 
of the trees, and through the vistas formed by the 
advancing points of the hills, a single sheet of un- 
spotted snow, relieved occasionally by a few small 
dark objects that were discovered, as they were 
passing directly beneath the feet of the travellers, 
to be sleighs moving in various directions. On 
the western border of the plain, the mountains, 
though equally high, were less precipitous, and as 
they receded, opened into irregular valleys and 
glens, and were formed into terraces, and hollows 
that admitted of cultivation. Although the ever- 
greens still held dominion over many of the hills 


44 


THE PIONEEKS. 


that rose on this side of the valley, yet the undu- 
lating outlines of the distant mountains, covered 
with forests of beech and maple, gave a relief to 
the eye, and the promise of a kinder soil. Occa- 
sionally, spots of white were discoverable amidst 
the forests of the opposite hills, that announced, by 
the smoke which curled over the tops of the trees, 
the habitations of man, and the commencement ol 
agriculture. These spots were sometimes, by the 
aid of united labour, enlarged into what were call- 
ed settlements ; but more frequently were small 
and insulated ; though so rapid were the changes, 
and so persevering the labours of those who had 
cast their fortunes on the success of the enterprise, 
that it was not difficult for the imagination of Eli- 
zabeth to conceive they were enlarging under her 
eye, while she was gazing, in mute wonder, at the 
alterations that a few short years had made in the 
aspect of the country. The points on the western 
side of the plain were both larger and more nume- 
rous than those on its eastern, and one in particu- 
*ar thrust itself forward in such a manner as to 
torm beautifully curved bays of snow on eithei 
side. On its extreme end a mighty oak stretched 
forward, as if to overshadow, with its branches, a 
spot which its roots were forbidden to enter. It 
had released itself from the thraldom, that a growth 
of centuries had imposed on the branches of the 
surrounding forest-trees, and threw its gnarled and 
fantastic arms abroad, in all the wildness of unre 
strained liberty. A dark spot of a few acres in ex- 
tent at the southern extremity of this beautiful flat, 
and immediately under the feet of our travellers, 
alone showed, by its rippling surface, and the va- 
pours which exhaled from it, that what at first might 
seem a plain, was one of the mountain lakes, lock- 
ed in the frosts of winter. A narrow current rush- 


THE PIOJMEtftS. 


45 


ed impetuously from its bosom at the open place 
we have mentioned, and might he traced for a few 
miles, as it wound its way towards the south 
through the real valley, by its borders of hemlock 
and pine, and by the vapour which arose from its 
warmer surface into the chill atmosphere of the 
hills. The banks of this lovely basin, at its outlet, 
or southern end, were steep but not high ; and in 
that direction the land continued for many miles a 
narrow but level plain, along which the settlers 
had scattered their humble habitations, with a pro- 
fusion that bespoke the quality of the soil, and the 
comparative facilities of intercourse. Immediately 
on the bank of the lake, stood the village of Tem- 
pleton. It consisted of about fifty buildings, in- 
cluding those of every description, chiefly built of 
wood, and which, in their architecture, bore not 
only strong marks of the absence of taste, but also, 
by the slovenly and unfinished appearance of most 
of the dwellings, indicated the hasty manner of 
their construction. To the eye, they presented a 
variety of colours. A few were white in both 
front and rear, but more bore that expensive co- 
lour on their fronts only, while their economical 
but ambitious owners had covered the remaining 
sides of their edifices with a dingy red. One or 
two were slowly assuming the russet of age ; while 
the uncovered beams that were to be seen through 
the broken windows of their second stories, show- 
ed, that either the taste, or the vanity of their pro- 
prietors, had led them to undertake a task which 
they were unable to accomplish. The whole were 
grouped together in a manner that aped the streets 
of a city, and were evidently so arranged, by the 
directions of one, who looked far ahead to the 
wants of posterity, rather than to the convenience 
of the present incumbents. Some three or four of 


46 


THE PIONEERS. 


the better sort of buildings, in addition to the uni- 
formity of their colour, were fitted with green 
blinds, that were rather strangely contrasted to the 
chill aspect of the lake, the mountains, the forests, 
and the wide fields of snow. Before the doors ol 
these pretending dwellings, were placed a few sap- 
lings, either without branches, or possessing only 
the feeble shoots of one or two summer’s growth, 
that looked not unlike tall grenadiers on post, near 
the threshold of princes. In truth, the occupants 
of these favoured habitations were the nobles of 
Templeton, as Marmaduke was its king. They 
were the dwellings of two young men who were 
cunning in the law ; an equal number of that class 
who chaffered to supply the wants of the commu 
nity under the significant title of store-keepers , 
and a disciple of iEsculapius, who, for a novelty, 
brought more subjects into the world than he sent 
out of it. In the midst of this incongruous group 
of dwellings, rose the mansion of the Judge, tow- 
ering proudly above all its neighbours. It stood 
in the centre of an enclosure that included several 
acres, which were covered with fruit-trees. Some 
of these were of Indian origin, and began already 
to assume the moss and inclination of age, therein 
forming a very marked contrast to the infant plan- 
tations that peered over most of the picketed 
fences in the village. In addition to this show of 
cultivation, were two rows of young poplars, a tree 
but lately introduced into America, formally lining 
either side of a pathway, which led from a gate, 
that opened on the principal street, to the front 
door of the building. The house itself had been 
built entirely under the superintendence of a Mr. 
Richard Jones, whom we have already mentioned, 
and who, from a certain cleverness in small matters, 
and his willingness to exert his talents, added to 


THE PIONEERS. 


47 


the circumstance of their being sisters’ children, 
ordinarily superintended all the minor concerns of 
Marmaduke Temple’s business. Richard was fond 
of saying, that this child of his invention consisted 
of nothing more nor less, than what should form 
the ground-work of a clergyman’s discourse ; viz. 
a firstly, and a lastly. He had commenced his la- 
bours in the first year of their residence, by erect- 
ing a tall, gaunt edifice of wood, with its gable to- 
wards the highway. In this shelter, for it was but 
little more, the family resided for three years. By 
the end of that period, Richard had completed his 
design. He had availed himself, in this heavy un- 
dertaking, of the experience of a certain wander- 
ing, eastern mechanic, who, by exhibiting a few 
solid plates of English architecture, and talking 
learnedly of friezes, entablatures, and particularly 
of the composite order, had obtained a very undue 
influence over Richard’s taste, in every thing that 
oertained to that branch of the fine arts. Not but 
that Mr. Jones affected to consider Mr. Hiram 
Doolittle a perfect empiric in his profession ; be- 
ing in the constant habit of listening to his treatises 
on architecture, with a kind of indulgent smile, yet, 
either from an inability to oppose them by any 
thing plausible from his own stores of learning, or 
from a secret admiration of their truth, Richard 
generally submitted to the arguments of his coad- 
jutor. Together, they had not only erected a 
dwelling for Marmaduke, but had given a fashion 
to the architecture of the country. The compo- 
site order, Mr. Doolittle would contend, was an 
order composed of many others, and was intended 
to be the most useful, for it admitted into its con- 
struction such alterations as convenience or cir- 
cumstances might require. To this proposition 
Richard very gravely assented ; and it was by this 


48 


THE PIONEERS. 


unison in sentiment that the composite order, or a 
style of architecture that emanated from the car- 
penter’s own genius, with a few suggestions from 
the other, became the fashion of the new county. 

The house itself, or the u lastly,” was of stone : 
large, square, formal, and far from uncomfortable 
These were four requisites, on which Marmaduke 
had insisted with a little more than his ordinary 
pertinacity. But every thing else was peaceably 
resigned to Richard and his associate. These wor- 
thies found but little opportunity for the display of 
their talents on a stone edifice, excepting in the 
roof and in the porch. The former, it was soon 
decided, should be made with four faces and a plat- 
form, in order to hide a part of the building that 
all writers agreed was an object that ought to be 
concealed. T o this arrangement, Marmaduke ob- 
jected the heavy snows that lay for months, fre- 
quently covering the earth to a depth of three or 
four feet. Happily, the facilities of the composite 
order presented themselves to effect a compromise, 
and the rafters were lengthened, so as to give a 
descent that should carry off the frozen element. 
But unluckily, some mistake was made in the ad 
measurement of these material parts of the fabric, 
and as one of the greatest recommendations' of Hi- 
ram was his ability to work by the u square rule,” 
no opportunity was found of discovering the effe t 
that was to be produced by this offspring of com- 
pound genius, until the massive timbers were raised, 
with much labour, on the four walls of the build- 
ing. Then, indeed, it was soon seen, that, in de- 
fiance of all rule, the roof was by far the most con- 
spicuous part of the edifice. Richard and his as- 
sociate consoled themselves with the belief, that 
the covering would aid in concealing this unnatu- 
ral elevation ; but every shingle that was laid was 


THIS PIONEERS. 


49 


only multiplying objects to look at. Richard es- 
sayed to remedy the evil with paint, and four dif- 
ferent colours were laid on by his own hands. The 
firs,, was a sky-blue, in the vain expectation that 
the eye might be cheated into the belief, it was 
the heavens themselves that hung so imposingly 
over Marmaduke’s dwelling ; the second was, what 
he called, a u cloud-colour,” being nothing more 
nor less than an imitation of light smoke ; the third 
was what Richard termed an invisible green, which 
he laid on with a belief, that the deformity might 
be blended with the back-ground of pines, that 
rose, in tall grandeur, but a short distance in the 
rear of the mansion-house. But all these inge 
nious expedients entirely failed, and our artists re 
linquished the desire to conceal, and attempted to 
ornament, the offensive member. The last colour 
that Richard bestowed on the luckless roof, was a 
“ sun-shiny yellow so called, both from its re- 
semblance to, and its powers to resist, the rays of 
the great luminary. The platform, as well as the 
eaves of the house, were surmounted by gaudily 
painted railings, and the genius of Hiram w*s ex- 
erted in the fabrication of divers urns and mould- 
ings, that were scattered profusely around this part 
of their labours. Richard had originally a cunni, g 
expedient, by which the chimneys were intended 
to be so low, and so situated, as to resemble orna- 
ments on the balustrades ; but comfort required 
that the chimneys should rise with the roof, in or- 
der that the smoke might be carried off, and they 
thus became four extremely conspicuous objects in 
the view. 

As this was much the most important undertaking 
in which Mr. Jones was ever engaged, his failure 
produced a correspondent degree of mortification. 
At first, he whispered among his acquaintances, 


50 


THE PIONEERS. 


that it all proceeded from ignorance of the square 
rule on the part of Hiram, but as his eye became 
gradually accustomed to the object, he grew better 
satisfied with his labours, and instead of apologizing 
for the defects, he commenced praising the beau- 
ties of the mansion-house. He soon found hear- 
ers ; and, as wealth and comfort are at all times 
attractive, it was made a model for imitation on a 
small scale. In less than two years from its erec- 
tion, he had the pleasure of standing on the elevat- 
ed platform, and of looking down on three humble 
imitators of its beauty. — Thus it is ever with 
fashion, which even renders the faults of the great 
subiects of admiration. 

Marmaduke bore this deformity in his dwelling 
witii great good nature, and soon contrived, by his 
own improvements, to give an air both of respecta- 
bility and comfort to his place of residence ; still 
there was much of incongruity, even immediately 
about the mansion-house. Although poplars had 
been brought from Europe to ornament the grounds, 
and willows and other trees were gradually spring- 
ing up nigh the dwelling, yet many a pile of snow 
betrayed the presence of the stump of a mighty 
pine ; and even, in one or two instances, unsightly 
remnants of trees that had been partly destroyed 
by fire were seen rearing their black and glisten- 
ng columns, for twenty or thirty feet above the 
pure white of the snow. These, which in the lan- 
guage of the country are termed stubs, abounded 
m the open fields adjacent to the village, and were 
accompanied, occasionally, by the ruin of a pine or 
a hemlock that had been stripped of its bark, and 
which waved in melancholy grandeur its naked 
limbs to the blast, a skeleton of its former glory 
But these unpleasant additions to the view were 
unnoticed by the delighted Elizabeth, who, as the 


THE PIONEERS. 


51 


horses slowly moved down the side of the moun- 
tain, saw only in gross the cluster of houses that 
lay like a map at her feet ; the fifty smokes, that 
were diagonally curling from the valley to the 
clouds; the frozen lake, as it lay embedded’ in 
mountains of evergreen, with the long shadows of 
the pines on its white surface, lengthening in the 
setting sun ; the dark riband of water, that gushed 
from the outlet, and was winding its way already 
towards the far distant Chesapeake — the altered, 
though still remembered, scenes of her childhood 
and of joy ! 

Five years had here wrought greater changes 
than a century would produce in older countries, 
where time and labour have given permanency to 
the works of man. To the young hunter and the 
Judge the scene had less of novelty ; though none 
ever emerge from the dark forests of that moun- 
tain, and witness the glorious scenery of that beau- 
teous valley, as it bursts unexpectedly upon them, 
without a feeling of delight. The former cast one 
admiring glance from north to south, and then sunk 
his face again beneath the folds of his coat ; while 
the latter contemplated, with philanthropic plea- 
sure, the prospect of affluence and comfort, that 
was expanding around him ; the result of his ow n 
enterprise, and much of it the fruits of his own 
industry. 

The cheerful sound of sleigh-bells, however- 
soon attracted the attention of the whole party, as 
they came jingling up the sides of the mountain, at 
i rate that announced both a powerful team and a 
hard driver. The bushes which lined the high- 
way interrupted the view, and they were close 
upon this vehicle before they discovered who 
were its occupants. 


CHAPTER IV. 


How low l whose mare’s dead ( what’s tho matter. 

Falstaff, 


A few minutes resolved whatever doubts our 
travellers entertained, as to the description of 
those who were approaching them with such ex- 
hilarating sounds. A large lumber-sleigh, drawn 
by four horses, was soon seen dashing through the 
leafless bushes, which fringed the road that was 
here, as on the other side of the mountain, cut into 
the hill. The leaders were of gray, and the pole- 
horses of a jet black. Bells, innumerable, were 
suspended from every part of the harness, where 
one of those tinkling balls could be placed ; while 
the rapid movement of the equipage, in defiance 
of the steep ascent, announced the desire of the 
driver to ring them to the utmost. The first glance 
at this singular arrangement satisfied the Judge 
as to the character of those in the sleigh. It con- 
tained four male figures. On one of those stools 
that are used at writing-desks, lashed firmly to the 
sides of the vehicle, was seated a little man, en- 
veloped in a great coat fringed with fur, in such a 
manner that no part of him was visible excepting 
a face, of an unvarying red colour. There was a 
habitual upward look about the head of this gen 


THE PIONEERS. 


53 


tleman, as if it were dissatisfied with the proximity 
to the earth that nature had decreed in his stature, 
and the expression of his countenance was that of 
busy care. He was the charioteer, and he guided 
the mettled animals that he drove along the prece 
pice, with a fearless eye, and a steady hand. Im- 
mediately behind him, with his face toward the 
other two, was a tall figure, to whose appearance 
not even the duplicate over-coats which he wore 
aided by the corner of a horse-blanket, could give 
the appearance of strength. His face was protrud- 
ing from beneath a woollen night-cap ; and when 
he turned to the vehicle of Marmaduke as the 
sleighs approached each other, it seemed formed 
by nature to cut the atmosphere with the least 
possible resistance. The eyes alone appeared to 
create an obstacle, as from either side of his fore- 
head their light, blue, glassy balls projected. The 
sallow of his countenance was a colour too perma- 
nent to be affected even by the intense cold of the 
evening. Opposite to this personage, sat a square 
figure of large proportions. No part of his form 
was to be discovered through his over-dress, but a 
full face with an agreeable expression, that was il- 
luminated by a pair of animated black eyes of a 
lurking look, that gave the lie to every demure 
feature in his countenance. A fair, jolly wig fur- 
nished a neat and rounded outline to his visage, 
and he, as well as the other two, wore martin-skin 
caps as outward coverings for their heads. The 
fourth was a meek-looking, long-visaged man, 
without any other protection from the cold than 
that which was furnished by a black surtout, made 
with some little formality, but which was rather 
thread-bare and rusty. He wore a hat of extreme- 
'y decent proportions, though frequent brushing 
uad quite destroyed its nap. His face was pale 


54 


the piojv;:ers. 

with a little melancholy, but so slightly expressed^ 
as to leave the beholder in doubt, whether it pro- 
ceeded from mental or bodily ailment. The air 
had given it, just now, a slight and somewhat fe- 
verish flush. The character of his whole appear- 
ance, especially contrasted to the air of humour in 
his next companion, was that of a habitual, but sub- 
dued dejection. No sooner had the two sleighs 
approached within speaking distance, than the 
driver of this fantastic equipage shouted aloud — 

“ Draw up in the quarry — draw up, thou king 
of the Greeks ; draw into the quarry, Agamemnon, 
or I shall never be able to pass you. Welcome 
home, cousin ’duke — welcome, welcome, my black 
eyed Bess. Thou seest, Marmaduke, that I have 
taken the field with an assorted cargo, to do thee 
honour. Monsieur Le Quoi has come out with 
only one cap; Old Fritz would not stay to finish 
the bottle ; and Mr. Grant has got to put the u last- 
ly” to his sermon, yet. Even all the horses would 
come — by the by, Judge, I must sell these blacks 
for you immediately ; they both interfere, and 
then the nigh one is a bad goer in double harness. 
1 can get rid of them to — — ” 

“ Sell what thou w 7 ilt, Dickon,” interrupted the 
cheerful voice of the Judge, “ so that thou leavest 
me my daughter and my lands. Ah ! Fritz, my 
old friend, this is a kind compliment, indeed, for 
seventy to pay to five and forty. Monsieur Le 
Quoi, I am your servant. Mr. Grant,” lifting his 
cap, “ I feel indebted to your attention. Gentle- 
men, I make you acquainted with my child. — 
Yours are names with which she is very familiar.” 

“ Velcome, velcome, Tchooge,” said the elder 
of the party, with a strong German accent. “ Miss 
Petsy vilt owe me a kiss.” 

“And cheerfully will I pay it, my good sir,’ 


THE PIONKKRS. 


56 


cried the soft voifce of Elizabeth ; which sounded, 
in the clear air of the hills, like tones of silver, 
amid the loud cries of Richard, and the manty 
greetings of the gentleman. u I have always a kiss 
for my old friend, Major Hartmann.” 

By this time the gentleman on the front seat, 
who had been addressed as Monsieur Le Quoi, 
rose with some difficulty, owing to the impediment 
of his over coats, and steadying himself by placing 
one hand on the stool of the charioteer, with the 
other he removed his cap, and bowing politely to 
the Judge, and profoundly to Elizabeth, he said 
with a smile that opened a mouth of no common 
dimensions — 

u Ver velcome home, Monsieur Tempi’. Ah l 
Mam’selle Liz’bet, you ver humble sairvant.” 

u Cover thy poll, Gaul, cover thy poll,” cried 
the driver, who was Mr. Richard Jones ; u cover 
thy poll, or the frost will pluck out the remnant 
of thy locks. Had the hairs on the head of Abso- 
lom been as scarce as on this crown of thine, he 
might have been living to this day.” The jokes 
of Richard never failed of exciting risibility, for if 
others were unbending, he uniformly did honour 
to his own wit ; and he enjoyed a hearty laugh 
on the present occasion, while Mr. Le Quoi re- 
sumed his seat with a polite reciprocation in his 
mirth. The clergyman, for such was the office of 
Mr. Grant, modestly, though quite affectionately, 
exchanged his greetings with the travellers also, 
when Richard prepared to turn the heads of his 
horses homeward. 

It was in the quarry alone that he could affect 
this object, without ascending to the sumifiit of the 
mountain. A very considerable excavation had 
been made into the side of the hill, at the point 
where Richard had succeeded in stopping the 


56 


THE PIONEERS. 


sleighs, from which the stones used for building in 
the village were ordinarily quarried, and in which 
he now attempted to turn his team. Passing itself 
was a task of difficulty, and frequently of danger, 
in that narrow road ; but Richard had to meet 
the additional risk of turning his four-in-hand. 
The black very civilly volunteered his services to 
take off the leaders, and the Judge very earnestly 
seconded the measure with his advice. Richard 
treated the proposals with great disdain. — 

“ Why, and wherefore, cousin ’duke,” he ex- 
claimed a little angrily ; the horses are as gentle 
lambs. You know that I broke the leaders my- 
;\f, and the pole-horses are too near my whip to 
be restive. Here is Mr. Le Quoi, now, who must 
know something about driving, because he has 
rode out so often with me ; I will leave it to Mr. 
Le Quoi whether there is any danger.” 

Thus appealed to, it was not in the nature of the 
Frenchman to disappoint expectations that were 
so confidently formed ; although he sat looking 
down the precipice which fronted him, as Richard 
turned his leaders into the quarry, with a pair of 
eyes that stood at least half an inch from his visage. 
The German’s muscles were unmoved, but his 
quick sight scanned each movement with an un- 
derstanding expression, that blended amusement 
at Richard’s dilemma with anxiety at their situa- 
tion. Mr. Grant placed his hands on the side of 
the sleigh, in preparation for a spring, but moral 
timidity deterred him from taking the leap that 
bodily apprehension strongly urged him to attempt. 

Richard, by a sudden application of his whip, 
succeeded in forcing his leaders into the snow- 
bank that covered the quarry ; but the instant that 
the impatient animals suffered by the crust, through 
which they broke at each step, they positively re- 


TH.S PIONEERS. 


57 


fused to move an inch further in that direction. 
On the contrary, ‘finding that the cries and blows 
of their driver were redoubled at this juncture, the 
leaders backed upon the pole-horses, who, in their 
turn, backed the sleigh. Only a single log lay 
above the pile which upheld the road, on the side 
toward the valley, which was now buried in the 
snow. The sleigh was easily forced across this 
slight impediment ; and before Richard became 
conscious of his danger, one half of the vehicle was 
projected over a precipice, which fell, nearly per- 
pendicularly, more than a hundred feet. The 
Frenchman, who, by his position, had a full view of 
their threatened flight, instinctively threw his body 
as far forward as possible in the sleigh, and cried, 
u Ah ! Mon cher monsieur Deeck ! mon dieu! 
prenez gardez vous !” 

“ Donner and blitzen, Richart,” exclaimed the 
veteran German, looking over the side of the sleigh 
with unusual emotion, “ put j r ou will preak ter 
sleigh and kilt ter horses.” 

“ Good Mr. Jones,” said the clergyman, losing 
the slight flush that cold had given to his cheeks, 
u be prudent, good sir — be careful.” 

“ Get up, you obstinate devils !” cried Richard, 
catching a bird’s eye view of his situation, applying 
his whip with new vigour, and unconsciously kick- 
ing the stool on which he sat, as if inclined to urge 
the inanimate wood forward ; “ Get up, I say — 
Cousin ’duke, I shall have to sell the grays too ; 
they are the worst broken horses — Mr. Le Quaw!” 
Richard was too much agitated to regard his pro- 
nunciation, of which he was commonly a little 
vain ; “ Monsieur Le Quaw, pray get off my leg ; 
vou hold my leg so tight, that it’s no wonder I 
an’t guide the horses. ’ 


58 


THE PIONEERS. 


u Merciful Providence !” excjaimed the Judge, 
“ they will be all killed !” 

Elizabeth gave a piercing shriek, and the black 
of Agamemnon’s face changed to a muddy white. 

At this critical moment, the young hunter, who, 
during the salutations of the parties, had sat in ra- 
ther sullen silence, sprang from the sleigh of Mar- 
maduke to the heads of the refractory leaders. The 
horses, who were yet suffering under the injudi- 
cious and somewhat random blows from Richard, 
were dancing up and down with that ominous 
movement, that threatens a sudden and uncontrol- 
lable start, and pressing backward instead of going 
into the quarry. The youth gave the leaders a 
powerful jerk, and they plunged aside, by the path 
they had themselves trodden, and re-entered the 
road in the position in which they were first halt- 
ed. The sleigh was whirled from its dangerous 
position, and upset with its runners outwards. The 
German and the divine were thrown rather un- 
ceremoniously into the highway, but without dan- 
ger to their bones. Richard appeared in the air, 
for a moment, describing the segment of a circle, 
of which the reins were the radii, and was landed 
at the distance of some fifteen feet, in that snow- 
bank which the horses had dreaded, right end up- 
permost. Here, as he instinctively grasped the 
reins, as drowning men seize at straws, he admira- 
bly served the purpose of an anchor, to check the 
further career of his steeds. The Frenchman, who 
was on his legs in the act of springing from the 
sleigh, took an aerial flight also, much in that atti- 
tude which boys assume when they play leap-frog^ 
and flying off in a tangent to the curvature of hir 
course, came into the snow-bank head-foremost, 
where he remained, exhibiting two lathy legs or 


THE PIONEERS. 


5l) 


high, like scare-crows waving in a corn field. Ma- 
jor Hartmann, whose self-possession had been ad- 
mirably preserved during the whole evolution, was 
the first of the party that gained his feet and his 
voice. 

“ Ter deyvel, Richart !” he exclaimed, in a 
voice half serious, half comical, “ put you unloat 
your sleigh very hantily.” 

It may be doubtful, whether the attitude in 
which Mr. Grant continued for an instant after his 
overthrow, was the one into which he had been 
throwm, or was assumed, in humbling himself be- 
fore the power that he reverenced, in thanksgiving 
at his escape. When he rose from his knees, he 
began to gaze about him, with anxious looks, after 
the welfare of his companions, while every joint 
in his body was trembling with nervous agitation. 
There was also a slight confusion in the faculties 
of Mr. Jones, that continued for some little time ; 
but as the mist gradually cleared from before his 
eyes, he saw that all was safe, and with an air of 
great self-satisfaction, he cried, “Well — that was 
neatly saved, any how— it was a lucky thought in 
me to ^hold on the reins, or the fiery devils would 
have been over the mountain by this time. How 
well I recovered myself, cousin ’duke ! Another 
moment would have been too late ; but I knew 
just the spot where to touch tbe off-leader ; that 
blow under his right flank, and the sudden jerk I 
gave with the reins, brought them round quite 
handsomely, I must own myself.” 

“ Thou jerk ! thou recover thyself, Dickon !” 
criel the Judge, whose fears were all vanished in 
mirth at the discomfiture of the party ; “ but for 
that brave lad yonder, thou and thy horses, or ra- 
ther mine, would have assuredly been dashed to 
pieces — Hut where is Monsieur Le Quoi ?” 


60 


THE PIONEERS. 


u Oh ! mon cher Juge ! Mon ami !” cried a 
smothered voice, “ praise be God I live ; vill-a 
you, Mister Agamemnon, be pleased come down 
ici, and help-a me on my foot ?” 

The divine and the negro seized the incarce- 
rated Gaul by his legs, and extricated him from a 
snow-bank of three feet in depth, whence his voice 
had sounded as from the tombs. The thoughts of 
Mr. Le Quoi, immediately on his liberation, were 
not extremely collected ; and when he reached the 
light, he threw his eyes upwards, in order to exa- 
mine the distance he had fallen. His good hu- 
mour returned, however, with a knowledge of his 
safety, though it was some little time before he 
clearly comprehended the case. 

“ What, monsieur,” said Richard, who was bu- 
sily assisting the black in taking off the leaders ; 
c are you there ? I thought I saw you flying up 
towards the top of the mountain but just now.” 

u Praise be God, I no fly down into de lake,” 
returned the Frenchman, with a visage that was 
divided between pain, occasioned by a few large 
scratches that he had received in forcing his head 
through the crust, and the look of complaisance that 
seemed natural to his pliable features : “ ah ! mon 
cher Mister Deeck,' vat you do next ? — dere be 
noting you no try.” 

“ The next thing, I trust, will be to learn to 
drive,” said the Judge, who had busied himself in 
throwing the buck, together with several articles 
of his baggage, from his own sleigh into the snow ; 
“ here are seats for you all, gentlemen ; the even- 
ing grows piercingly cold, and the hour approaches 
tor the service of Mr. Grant : we will leave friend 
Jones to repair the damages, with the assistance ot 
Agamemnon, and hasten to a warm fire. Here, 
Dickon, are a few articles of Bess’s trumpery, that 


THE PIONEERS. 


61 


you can throw into your sleigh when ready, and 
there is also a deer of my taking, that I will thank 
you to bring — Aggy ! remember there will be a 
visit from Santaclaus to your stocking to-night, if 
you are smart and careful about the buck, and gel 
in in season.” 

The black grinned with the consciousness of the 
bribe that was thus offered him for his silence on 
the subject of the deer, while Richard, without in 
the least waiting for the termination of his cousin’s 
speech, at once began his reply — • 

“ Learn to drive, sayest thou, cousin ’duke ? Is 
there a man in the county who knows more of 
horse-flesh than myself? Who broke in the filly, 
that no one else dare mount ? though your coach- 
man did pretend that he had tamed her before 1 
took her in hand, but any body could see that he 
lied — he was a great liar, that John — what’s that, 
a buck ?” — Richard abandoned the horses, and ran 
to the spot where Marmaduke had thrown the 
deer : <c It is a buck indeed ! I am amazed ! Yes, 
here are two holes in him ; he has fired both bar- 
rels, and hit him each time. Ecod ! how Marma- 
duke will brag! he is a prodigious bragger about 
any small matter like this now ; well, well, to think 
that ’duke has killed a buck before Christmas 
There will be no such thing as living with him — 
they are both bad shots though, mere chance — 
mere chance ; — now , I never fired twice at a clo- 
ven hoof in my life ; — it is hit or miss with me — 
dead or runaway : — had it been a bear, or a wild- 
cat, a man might have wanted both barrels. Heie ! 
you Aggy ! how far off was the Judge when this 
buck was shot ?” 

“ Eh ! Massa Richard, may be a ten rod,” cried 
the black, bending under one of the horses, with 
the pretence of fastening a buckle, but in reality 


62 


THE PIONEERS. 


to conceal the broad grin that opened a mouth 
from ear to ear. 

“ Ten rod !” echoed the other ; “ why, Aggy, 
the deer I killed last winter was at twenty — yes ! 
if and thing it was nearer thirty than twenty. 1 
wouldn’t shoot at a deer at ten rod : besides, you 
may remember, Aggy, I only fired once.” 

“ Yes, Massa Richard, I ’member ’em ! Natty 
Bumppo fire t’oder gun. You know, sir, the folk 
say, Natty kill ’em.” 

“ The folks lie, you black devil !” exclaimed 
Richard in gieat heat. u I have not shot even a 
gray squirrel these four years, to which that old 
rascal has not laid claim, or some one for him. 
This is a damn’d envious world that we live in — 
people are always for dividing the credit of a thing, 
in order to bring down merit to their own level. 
Now they have a story about the Patent, that Hi- 
ram Doolittle helped to plan the steeple to St. 
Paul’s ; when Hiram knows that it is entirely 
mine ; a little taken from a print of its namesake 
in London, I own ; but all the rest is mine.” 

“ I don’t know where he come from,” said the 
black, losing every mark of humour in an expres 
sion of deep admiration, u but eb’ry body say, he 
wonnerful hansome.” 

“ And well they may say so, Aggy,” cried Ri- 
chard, leaving the buck and walking up to the ne- 
gro with the air of a man who has new interest 
awakened within him. “ I think I may say, with- 
out bragging, that it is the handsomest and the 
most scientific country church in America. I know 
that the Connecticut settlers talk about their Wea- 
thersfield meeting-house ; but I never believe more 
than half of what they say, they are such uncon- 
scionable braggers. Just as you have got a thing 
done, if they see it likely to be successful, they 


THE PIONEERS. 


63 


arc always for interfering ; and then it’s ten to one 
but they lay claim to half, or even all of the credit. 
You may remember, Aggy, when I painted the 
sign of the bold dragoon for Captain Hollister, 
there was that fellow, who was about town laying 
brick dust on the houses, came one day and offered 
to mix what I call the streaky black, for the tail 
and mane, and then, because it looks just like 
horse hair, he tells every body that the sign was 
painted by himself and Squire Jones. If Marma- 
duke don’t send that fellow off the Patent, he may 
ornament his village with his own hands, for me.” 
Here Richard paused a moment, and cleared his 
throat by a l6ud hem, while the negro, who was 
all this time busily engaged in preparing their 
sleigh, proceeded with his work in respectful si- 
lence. Owing to the religious scruples of the 
Judge, Aggy was the servant of Richard, who had 
his services for a time , and who . of course, com- 
manded a legal claim to the respect of the young 
negro. But when any dispute between his lawful 
master and his real benefactor occurred, the black 
felt too much deference for both to express any 
opinion. In the mean while, Richard continued 
watching the negro as he fastened buckle after 
buckle, until, stealing a look of consciousness to- 
ward the other, he continued, “ Now, if that young 
man, who was in your sleigh, is a real Connecticut 
settler, he will be telling every body how he saved 
my horses, when, if he had just let them alone for 
otfe half a minute longer, I would have brought 
them in much better, without upsetting, with the 
whip and rein — it spoils a horse to give him his 
head. I should not wonder if I had to sell the 
whole team, just for that one jerk that he gave 
them.” Richard again paused, and again hem- 
med ; for his conscience smote him a little, for 


64 


THE PIONEERS. 


censuring a man who had just saved his life — 
u Who is the lad, Aggy — I don’t remember to have 
seen him before ?” 

The black recollected the hint about Santaclaus; 
and while he briefly explained how they had taken 
him on the top of the mountain, he forbore to add 
any thing concerning the accident of the wound, 
only saying, that he believed the youth was a stran- 
ger. It was so usual for men of the first rank to 
take into their sleighs any one whom they found 
toiling through the snow, that Richard was per- 
fectly satisfied with this explanation. He heard 
Aggy, with great attention, and then remarked, 
u Well, if the lad has not been spoiled by the 
people in Templeton, he may be a modest young 
man, and as he certainly meant well, I shall take 
some notice of him — perhaps he is land-hunting — I 
say, Aggy — may be he is out hunting ?” 

“ Eh ! yes, massa Richard,” said the black, a 
little confused ; for as Richard did all the flogging, 
he stood in great terror of his master, in the main 
— u yes, sir, I b’lieve he be.” 

“ Had he a pack and an axe ?” 

u No, sir, only he rifle.” 

“ Rifle !” exclaimed Richard, observing the con 
fusion of the negro, which now amounted to ter- 
ror. “ By Jove ! he killed the deer. I knew that 
Marmaduke couldn’t kill a buck on the jump — 
How was it, Aggy ? tell me all about it, and I’ll 
roast ’duke quicker than he can roast his saddle — 
How was it, Aggy ? the lad shot the buck, and the 
Judge bought it, ha ! and is taking him down to 
get the pay ?” 

The pleasure of this discovery had put Richard 
m such a good humour, that the negro’s fears in 
some measure vanished, and he remembered the 


THE PIONEERS. 


f)f) 

stocking. After a gulp or two, he made out to re 

p*y— 

“ You forgit a two shot, sir?” 

“ Don’t lie, you black rascal !” cried Richard, 
stepping on the snow-bank to measure the distance 
from his long lash to the negro’s back ; “ speak 
the truth, or I’ll trounce you.” While speaking, 
the stock was slowly rising in Richard’s right hand 
and the lash drawing through his left, in the scien 
title manner with which drummers apply the cat. 
and Agamemnon, after turning each side of him- 
self towards his master, and finding all equally un- 
willing to remain there, forgetful of his great name, 
fairly gave in. In a very few words he made his 
master acquainted with the truth, at the same time 
earnestly conjuring Richard to protect him from 
the displeasure of the Judge. 

u I’ll do it, boy, I’ll do it,” cried the other, rub- 
bing his hands with delight ; “ say nothing, but 
leave me to manage ’duke — I have a damn’d great 
mind to leave the deer on the hill, and to make 
the fellow send for his own carcass : but no, I will 
let Marmaduke tell a few bouncers about it before 
I come out upon him. Come, hurry in, Aggy, I 
must help to dress the lad’s wound ; this Yankee 
doctor knows nothing of surgery — I had to hold 
old Milligan’s leg for him, while he cut it off.” — 
Richard was now seated on the stool again, and 
the black taking the hind seat, the steeds were put 
in motion towards home. As they dashed down 
the hill, on a fast trot, the driver occasionally turn- 
ed his face to Aggy, and continued speaking ; for 
notwithstanding their recent rupture, the most 
perfect cordiality was again existing between them. 
u This goes to prove that I turned the horses with 
the reins, for no man who is shot in the right 
shoulder, can have strength enough to bring round 
6 * 


THE PIONEER. 


O'G 

such obstinate devils. I knew I did it from the 
first ; but I did not want to multiply words wdth 
Marmaduke about it — Will you bite, you villain ? — 
hip, boys, hip ! Old Natty too, that is the best of 
it — Well, well — ’duke will say no more about my 
deer — and the Judge fired both barrels, and hit 
nothing but a poor lad, who w^as behind a pine- 
tree. I must help that quack to take out the buck 
shot for the poor fellow.” In this manner Ri- 
chard descended the mountain ; the bells ringing, 
and his tongue going, until they entered the vil- 
lage, when the whole attention of the driver w 7 as 
devoted to a display of his horsemanship, to the 
admiration of all the gaping women and children 
who thronged the windows to witness the arrival 
of their landlord and his daughter. 


CHAPTEJR V r . 


Nathaniel’s coat, sir, was not fully made, 

And Gabriel’s pumps were all unfinish’d i’ th* hod ; 
There was no link to colour Peter’s hat, 

And Walter’s dagger was not come from sheathing: 
There were none fine, but Adam, Ralph, and Gregory 
Skakspeare. 


After winding along the side of the mountain, 
the road, on reaching the gentle declivity which 
lay at the base of the hill, turned at a right angle 
to its former course, and shot down an inclined 
plane, directly into the village of Templeton. The 
rapid little stream, that we have already mention- 
ed, was crossed by a bridge of hewn timber, which 
manifested, by its rude construction, and the unne- 
cessary size of its frame-work, both the value of 
labour and the abundance of materials. This lktle 
torrent, whose dark waters gushed in mimic tur- 
bulence over the limestones that lined its bottom, 
was nothing less than one of the many sources of 
the Susquehanna ; a river, to which the Atlantic 
herself has extended her right arm, to welcome 
; nto her bosom. It was at this point, that the 
powerful team of Mr. Jones brought him up to the 
more sober steeds of our travellers. A small hill 
was risen, and the astonished Elizabeth found 
herself at once amid the incongruous dwellings 
of the village. The street was laid out of the 
width of an ordinary avenue to a city, notwith- 


68 


THE PIONEERS. 


standing that the eye might embrace, in one view, 
thousands, and tens of thousands of acres, that 
were yet tenanted only by the beasts of the forest. 
But such had been the will of her father, and such 
had also met the wishes of his followers. To them, 
the road, that made the most rapid approaches to 
the condition of the old, or, as they expressed it, 
the down countries, was the most pleasant ; and 
surely nothing could look more like civilization 
than a city, even if it lay in a wilderness ! The 
width of the street, for so it was called, might have 
been one hundred feet; but the track for the 
sleighs was much more limited. On either side 
of the highway were piled before the houses huge 
heaps of logs, that were daily increasing rather 
dian diminishing in size, notwithstanding the enor- 
mous fires that might be seen lighting every win 
dow through the dusk of the evening. 

The last object at which Elizabeth had gazed 
when they renewed their journey, after the ren- 
contre w r ith Richard, was the sun, as it expanded 
in the refraction of the horizon, and over whose 
disk the dark umbrage of a pine was stealing, while 
it slowly sunk behind the western hills. But his 
setting rays darted along the openings of the moun- 
tain she was on, and lighted the shining covering 
of the birches, until their smooth and glossy coats 
nearly rivalled the mountain-sides in colour. The 
outline of each dark pine was delineated far in the 
depths of the forest ; and the rocks, too smooth 
and too perpendicular to retain the snow that had 
alien, brightened, as if smiling in scorn at the 
changes in the season. But at each step, as they 
descended, Elizabeth observed that they were 
leaving the day behind them. Even the heartless* 
but bright rays of a December sun were missed, 
as they glided into the- cold gloom of the valley 


THE PIONEERS. 


69 


Along the summits of the mountains in the eastern 
range, it is true, that the light still lingered, reced- 
ing step by step from the earth into the few clouds 
that were gathering, with the evening mist, about 
the limited horizon ; but the frozen lake lay with- 
out a shadow on its chill bosom ; the dwellings 
were becoming already gloomy and indistinct ; and 
the wood-cutters were shouldering their axes, and 
preparing to enjoy, throughout the long evening 
before them, the comforts of those exhilarating 
fires that their labour had been supplying with fuel. 
They paused only to gaze at the passing sleighs, 
to lift their caps to Marmaduke, to exchange fa- 
miliar nods with Richard, and each disappeared in 
his dwelling. The paper curtains dropped behind 
our travellers in every window, shutting from the 
air even the fire-light of their cheerful apartments 
and when the horses of her father turned, with a 
rapid whirl, into the open gate of the mansion- 
house; and nothing stood before her but the cold, 
dreary stone-walls of the building, as she approach- 
ed them through an avenue of young and leafless 
poplars, Elizabeth felt as if all the loveliness of the 
mountain-view had vanished like the fancies of a 
dream. Marmaduke retained so much of his early 
habits as to reject the use of bells, but the equi- 
page of Mr. Jones came dashing through the gate 
after them, sending its jingling sounds through 
every cranny in the building, and in a moment the 
dwelling was in an uproar. 

On a stone platform, of rather small proportions, 
considering the size of the building, Richard and 
Hiram had, conjointly, reared four little columns 
of wood, which in their turn supported the shingled 
roofs of the portico — this was the name that Mr. 
Jones had thought proper to give to a very plain, 
covered entrance to the mansion. The ascent to 


70 


THE PIONEERS. 


the platform was by five or six stone steps, some- 
what hastily laid together, in which the frost had 
already begun to move from their symmetrical po- 
sitions. But the evils of a cold climate, and a su- 
perficial construction, did not end here. As the 
steps lowered, the platform necessarily fell also, 
and the foundations actually left the superstructure 
suspended in the air, leaving an open space of a 
foot from the base of the pillars to the bases on 
which they had originally been placed. It was 
lucky for the whole fabric, that the carpenter, who 
did the manual part of the labour, had fastened the 
canopy of this classic entrance so firmly to the side 
of the house, that, when the base deserted the su- 
perstructure in the manner we have described, and 
the pillars, for the want of a foundation, were no 
longer of service to support the roof, the roof was 
able to uphold the pillars. Here was indeed an 
unfortunate gap left in the ornamental part of Ri- 
chard’s column ; but like the window in Aladdin’s 
palace, it seemed only left in order to prove the 
fertility of its master’s resources. The composite 
order again offered its advantages, and a second 
edition of the base was given, as the booksellers 
say, with additions and improvements. It was ne- 
cessarily larger, and it was properly ornamented 
with mouldings : still the steps continued to yield, 
and, at the moment when Elizabeth returned to 
her father’s door, a few rough wedges were driven 
under the pillars to keep them steady, and to pre- 
vent their weight from separating them from the 
pediment which they ought to have supported 
From the great door, which opened into the 
porch, emerged two or three female domestics, and 
one male. The latter was bare-headed, but evi- 
dently more dressed than usual, and in the whole 
was of so singular a formation and attire, as to de- 


THE PIONEERS. 


71 


serve a more minute description. Me was about 
five feet in height, of a square and athletic frame, 
with a pair of shoulders that would have fitted a 
grenadier. His low stature was rendered the more 
striking by a bend forward that he was in the habit 
of assuming, for no apparent reason, unless it might 
be in order to give a greater freedom to his arms, 
in a particularly sweeping swing, that they con- 
stantly practised when their master was in motion. 
His face was long, of a fair complexion, burnt to a 
fiery red ; with a snub nose, cocked into an inve- 
terate pug ; a mouth of enormous dimensions, filled 
with fine teeth ; and a pair of blue eyes, that 
seemed to look about them, on surrounding objects, 
with vast contempt. His head composed full one- 
fourth of his whole length, and the queue that de- 
pended from its rear occupied another. He w r ore 
a coat of very light drab cloth, with buttons as 
large as dollars, bearing the impression of a “ foul 
anchor.” The skirts were extremely long, reach- 
ing quite to the calf, and were broad in proportion. 
Beneath, there were a vest and breeches of red 
plush, somewhat worn and soiled. He had shoes 
with large buckles, and stockings of blue and white 
stripes. 

This odd-looking figure reported himself to be 
a native of the county of Cornwall, in the island 
of Great Britain. His boyhood had passed in the 
neighbourhood of the tin mines, and his youth as 
the cabin-boy of a smuggler, between Falmouth 
and Guernsey. From this trade he was impressed 
ftito the service of his king, and, for the want of a 
better, had been taken into the cabin, first as a 
servant, and finally as steward to the captain. 
Here he acquired the art of making chowder, lob- 
skous, and one or two other sea-dishes, and, as he 
was fond of saying, had an opportunity of seeing 


72 


THE PIONEERS. 


the world. With the exception of one or two out- 
ports in France, and an occasional visit to Ports- 
mouth, Plymouth, and Deal, he had in reality seen 
no more of mankind, however, than if he had been 
riding a donkey in one of his native mines. But, 
being discharged from the navy at the peace of ’83, 
he declared, that, as he had seen all the civilized 
parts of the world, he was inclined to a trip to the 
wilds^of America. We will not trace him in his 
brief wanderings, under the influence of that spirit 
of emigration, that sometimes induces a dapper 
Cockney to quit his home, and lands him, before 
the sound of Bow bells is fairly out of his ears, 
within the roar of the cataract of Niagara, but shall 
only add, that, at a very early day, even before 
Elizabeth had been sent to school, he had found 
his way into the family of Marmaduke Temple, 
where, owing to a combination of qualities, he 
held, under Mr. Jones, the office of majur-domo 
The name of this worthy was Benjamin Penguil* 
lan, according to his own pronunciation ; but, ow- 
ing to a marvellous tale that he was in the habi+ 
of relating, concerning the length of time he had 
to labour to keep his ship from sinking after Rod- 
ney’s victory, he had universally acquired the nick- 
name of Ben Pump. 

By the side of Benjamin, and pressing forward 
as if a little jealous of her station, stood a middle- 
aged woman, dressed in calico, rather violently 
contrasted in colour, with a tall, meager, shapeless 
figure, sharp features, and a somewhat acute ex- 
pression in her physiognomy. Her teeth were* 
mostly gone, and what did remain were of a light 
yellow. The skin of her nose was drawn tightly 
over the member, and then suffered to hang in 
large wrinkles in her cheeks and about her mouth. 
She took snuff in such large quantities, as to ere 


THE PIONEERS. 


73 


ate the impression, that she owed the saffron of 
her lips and the adjacent parts, to this circum- 
stance ; but it was the unvarying colour of her 
whole face. She presided over the female part ol 
the domestic arrangements, in the capacity of house- 
keeper ; was a spinster, and bore the name of Re- 
markable Pettibone. To Elizabeth she was ar« 
entire stranger, having been introduced into the 
family since the death of her mother. 

In addition to these, were three or four subor- 
dinate menials, mostly black, some appearing at 
the principal door, and some running from the end 
of the building, where stood the entrance to the 
cellar -kitchen. 

Besides these, there was a general rush from 
Richard’s kennel, accompanied with every canine 
tone, from the howl of the wolf-dog to the petu- 
lant bark of the terrier. The master received 
their boisterous salutations with a variety of imi- 
tations from his own throat, when the dogs, pro- 
bably from shame at being outdone, ceased their 
outcry. One stately, powerful mastiff, who wore 
around his neck a brass collar, with “ M. T.” en- 
graved in large letters on the rim, alone was si- 
lent. He walked majestically, amid the confusion, 
to the side of the Judge, where, receiving a kind 
pat or two, he turned to Elizabeth, who even 
stooped to kiss him, as she called him kindly by the 
name of w Old Brave.” The animal seemed to 
know her, as she ascended the steps, supported by 
Monsieur Le Quoi and her father, in order to pro- 
tect her from falling on the ice, with which the} 
were covered. He looked wistfully after her 
figure, and when the door closed on the whole 
party, he laid himself in a kennel that was placed 
nigh by, as if conscious that the house contained 
something of additional value <o guard. 


74 


THE PIONEERS. 


Elizabeth followed her father, who paused a mo- 
ment to whisper a message to one o his domes- 
tics, into, a large hall, that was dimly lighted by 
two candles, placed in high, old-fashioned, brass 
candlesticks. The door closed, and the party were 
at once removed from an atmosphere that was 
nearly at zero, to one of sixty degrees above. In 
the centre of the hidi stood an enormous stove, the 
sides of which appeared to be quivering with the 
heat it emitted ; from which a large, straight pipe, 
leading through the ceiling above, carried off the 
smoke. An iron basin, containing water, was 
placed on this furnace, for such only it could be 
called, in order to preserve a proper humidity in 
the apartment. The room was carpeted, and fur- 
nished with convenient, substantial furniture, of a 
great variety in its appearance and materials ; some 
of which was brought from the city, and the re- 
mainder manufactured by the mechanics of Tem- 
pleton. There was a sideboard of mahogany, in- 
laid with ivory, and bearing enormous handles of 
glittering brass, and groaning under piles of silver 
plate. Near it stood a set of prodigious tables, 
made of the wild cherry, to imitate the imported 
wood of the sideboard, but plain, and without or- 
nament of any kind. Opposite to these stood a 
smaller table, formed from a lighter coloured wood, 
through the grains of which the wavy lines of the 
curled-maple of the mountains were undulating in 
precise regularity. Near to this, in a corner, stood 
a heavy, old-fashioned, brass-faced clock, encased 
m a high box, with the dark hue of the black-wal- 
nut from the seashore. An enormous settee, or 
sofa, covered with light chintz, stretched along the 
walls for near twenty feet on one side of the hall, 
and chairs of wood, painted a light yellow, with 
black lines that were drawn by nc very steady 


THE PIONEERS . 


75 


hand, were ranged opposite, and in the ntervals 
between the other pieces of furniture. A Fahren- 
heit’s thermometer, in a mahogany case, and with 
a barometer annexed, was hung against the wall, 
at some little distance from the stove, which Ben- 
jamin consulted, every half-hour, with prodigious 
veneration. Two small glass chandeliers were 
suspended at equal distances between the stove 
and the outer doors, one of which opened at either 
end of the hall, and gilt lustres were affixed to the 
frame-work of the numerous side doors that led 
from the apartment. Some little display in archi- 
tecture had been made in constructing these 
frames and casings, which were surmounted with 
pediments, that bore each a little pedestal in its 
centre. On these pedestals were small busts in 
blacked plaster of Paris. The style of the pedes- 
tals, as well as the selection of the busts, had been 
executed under the auspices of Mr. Jones. On 
one stood Homer, a most striking likeness, Richard 
affirmed, “ as any one might see, for it was blind.” 
Another bore the image of a smooth visaged gen- 
tleman, with a pointed beard, whom he called 
Shakspeare. A third ornament was an urn, which, 
from its shape, Richard was accustomed to say, 
intended to represent itself as holding the ashes 
of Dido A fourth was certainly old Franklin, in 
his cap and spectacles. A filth as surely bore the 
dignified composure of the face of Washington. A 
sixth was a non descript, representing “ a man 
with a shirt-collar open,” to use the language of 
Richard, “ with a laurel on hi? head ; — it was Ju- 
lius Caesar or Dr. Faustus ; there were good rea- 
sons for believing either.” 

The walls were hung with a dark, lead-coloured 
English paper, that represented Britannia weeping 
over the tomb of Wolfe. The hero himself stood 


7(3 


THE PIONEERS. 


at a little distance from the mourning goddess, at 
the edge of the paper. Each width contained the 
figure, with the slight exception of one arm of the 
General running over on to the next piece, so that 
when Richard essayed, with his own hands, to put 
together this delicate outline, some difficulties oc- 
curred, that prevented a nice conjunction, and 
Britannia had reason to lament, in addition to the 
loss of her favourite’s life, numberless cruel ampu- 
tations of his right arm. 

The luckless cause of these unnatural divisions 
announced his presence in the hall by a loud crack 
of his whip, that startled the party, and his voice 
was first heard, exclaiming — 

“ Why, Benjamin ! you Ben Pump ! is this the 
manner in which you receive the heiress ? Excuse 
him, cousin Elizabeth. The arrangements were 
too delicate and nice to be trusted to every one ; 
but now I am here, things will go on better. Come, 
light up, Mr. Penguillan, light up, light up, and 
let us see one another’s faces. Well, ’duke, I 
have brought home your deer; what is to be done 
with it, ha ?” 

“ By the lord, Squire,” commenced Benjamin 
in reply, first giving his mouth a wipe with the 
back of his hand, u if this here thing had been or- 
dered sum’at earlier in the day, it might have been 
got up, d’ye see, to your liking. I had mustered 
all hands, and was exercising candles, when you 
hove in sight ; but when the women heard youi 
bells, they started an end, as if they were riding 
the boatswain’s colt ; and, if-so-be there is that 
man in the house, who can bring up a parcel of 
women when they have got headway on them, un- 
til they’ve run out the end of their rope, his name 
is not Benjamin Pump. But Miss Betsy here must 
have altered more than a privateer in disguise 


THE PIONEERS. 


11 


sinct> she has got on her woman’s duds, if she will 
go to take offence with an old fellow, for the small 
matter of lighting a few candles.” 

Elizabeth and her father continued silent, for 
both experienced the same sensations on entering 
the hall. The former had resided one year in the 
building before she left home for the school, and 
the figure of its late lamented mistress was missed 
by both the husband and the child. 

But candles had been placed in the chandeliers 
and lustres, and the attendants were so far reco- 
vered from their surprise as to recollect their use : 
the oversight was immediately remedied, and in a 
minute the apartment was in a blaze of light. 

The slight melancholy of our heroine and .her 
father was banished by this brilliant interruption ; 
and the whole party began to lay aside the num- 
berless garments that they had worn in the air. 

During this operation, Richard kept up a desul- 
tory dialogue with the different domestics, occa- 
sionally throwing out a remark to the Judge con- 
cerning the deer; but as his conversation at 
such moments was much like an accompaniment 
on a piano, a thing that is heard without being at- 
tended to, we will not undertake the task of re- 
cording his wonderfully diffuse discourse. 

The instant that Remarkable Pettibone had exe- 
cuted her portion of the labour in illuminating, she 
returned to a position near Elizabeth, with the ap 
parent motive of receiving the clothes that th« 
other threw aside, but in reality to examine, with 
an air of mingled curiosity and jealousy, the ap- 
pearance of the lady who was to supplant her in 
the administration of their domestic economy. The 
housekeeper felt a little appalled, when, after 
cloaks, coats, shawls, and socks had been taken off 
in succession, the large black hood was removed, 


78 


THE PIONEERS. 


and the dark ringlets, shining like the raven’s wing 
foil from her head, and left the sweet but com- 
manding features of the young lady exposed to 
view. Nothing could be fairer and more spotless 
than the forehead of Elizabeth, and preserve the 
appearance of life and health. Her nose would 
have been called Grecian, but for a softly round- 
ed swell, that gave in character to the feature what 
it lost in beauty. Her mouth, at first sight, seem- 
ed only made for love ; but the instant that its 
muscles moved, every expression that womanly 
dignity could utter played around it with the 
flexibility of female grace. It spoke not only to 
the ear, but to the eye. So much, added to a form 
of exquisite proportions, rather full and rounded 
for her years, and of the tallest medium height, 
she inherited from her mother. Even the colour 
of her eye, the arched brows, and the long silken 
lashes, came from the same source ; but its expres- 
sion was her father’s. Inert and composed, it was 
soft, benevolent, and attractive; but it could be 
roused, and that without much difficulty. At such 
moments it was still beautiful, though it was beau- 
ty in its grandeur. As the last shawl fell aside, 
and she stood dressed in a rich blue riding-habit, 
that fitted her form with the nicest exactness ; her 
cheeks burning with roses, that bloomed the riches 
for the heat of the hall, and her eyes slightly suf- 
fused with moisture, that rendered their ordinary 
beauty more dazzling, and with every feature of 
her speaking countenance illuminated by the lights 
that flared around her, Remarkable felt that her 
own power had ended. 

The business of unrobing had been simultaneous 
Marmaduke appeared in a suit of plain neat black 
Monsieur Le Quoi, in a coat of snufl colour, cover- 
ing * vest of embroidery, with breeches, and silk 


i’HE PIONEERS. 


7C 

stockings, and buckles — that were commonly 
thought to be of paste. Major Hartmann wore a 
coat of sky-blue, with large brass buttons, a club 
wig, and boots ; and Mr. Richard Jones had set 
off his dapper little form in a frock of bottle-green, 
with bullet buttons ; by one of which the sides 
were united over his well-rounded waist, opening 
above, so as to show a jacket of red cloth, with an 
under-vest of flannel, faced with green velvet, and 
below, so as to exhibit a pair of buckskin breeches, 
with long, soiled, white-top boots, and spurs ; one 
of the latter a little bent, from its recent attacks on 
the unfortunate stool. 

When the young lady had extricated herself 
from the duresse of her garments, she was at liber- 
ty to gaze about her, and to examine not only the 
household over which she was to preside, but also 
the air and manner in which their domestic ar- 
rangements were conducted. Although there was 
much incongruity in the furniture and appearance 
of the hall, there was nothing mean. The floor 
was carpeted, even in its l^motest corners. The 
brass candlesticks, the gilt iustres, and the glass 
chandeliers, whatever might be their keeping as to 
propriety and taste, were admirably kept as to 
all the purposes of use and comfort. They were 
all clean, and each glittering, in the strong light of 
the apartment, with its peculiar lustre. Compared 
with the chill aspect of the December night with- 
out, the warmth and brilliancy of the apartment 
produced an effect that was not unlike enchant- 
ment. Her eye had not time to detect in detail the 
little errors, which, in truth, existed, but was glan- 
cing around her in delight, when an object arrested 
her view, that was strongly contrasted to the smil- 
ing faces and neatly attired personages who had thus 
assembled to do honour to the heiress of Templeton. 


80 


THE PIONEERS. 


In a corner of the hall, near to the . grand en- 
trance, stood the young hunter, unnoticed, and for 
the moment apparently forgotten. But even the 
forgetfulness of the Judge, which, under the influ- 
ence of strong emotion, had banished the recollec- 
tion of the wound of this stranger, seemed surpass- 
ed by the absence of mind in the youth himself. 
On entering the apartment he had mechanically 
lifted his cap, and exposed a head, covered with 
hair that rivalled in colour and gloss the locks ol 
Elizabeth. Nothing could have wrought a greatei 
transformation, than the single act of removing the 
rough fox-skin cap. If there was much that was 
prepossessing in the countenance of the young 
hunter, there was something noble in the rounded 
outlines of his head and brow. The very air and 
manner with which the member haughtily main- 
tained itself over the coarse and even wild attire*, 
in which the rest of his frame was clad, bespoke 
not only familiarity with a splendour that in those 
new settlements was thought to be unequalled, but 
something very like contempt also. 

The hand that held the cap rested lightly on 
the little ivory-mounted piano of Elizabeth, with 
neither rustic restraint, nor obtrusive vulgarity. 
A single finger touched the instrument, as if ac- 
customed to dwell on such places. His other arm 
was extended to its utmost length, and the hand 
grasped the barrel of his long rifle, with something 
like convulsive energy. The act and the attitude 
were both involuntary, and evidently proceeded 
from a feeling much deeper than that of vulgar sur- 
prise. His appearance, connected as it was with 
the rough exterior of his dress, rendered him en- 
tirely distinct from the busy group that were mov- 
ing across the other end of the long hall, occupied 
in receiving the travellers, and exchanging .thei; 


THK PIONEERS. 


SI 


welcomes; and Elizabeth, herself as much an ob- 
|ect to be looked at by others, continued to gaze 
at him in a kind of stupid wonder. The contrac- 
tion of the stranger’s brows increased, as his eyes 
moved slowly from one object to another. For 
moments the expression of his countenance was 
fierce, and then again it seemed to pass away in 
some painful emotion. The arm, that was extend- 
ed, bent, and brought the hand nigh to his face, 
when his head dropped upon it, and concealed the 
wonderfully speaking lineaments of his features. 

“We forget, dear sir, the strange gentleman,” 
( for her life Elizabeth could not call him other- 
wise,) “ whom we have brought here for assist- 
ance, and to whom we owe every attention.” 

All eyes were instantly turned in the direction 
of those of the speaker, and the youth, rather 
proudly, elevated his head again, while he an- 
swered — 

“ My wound is trifling, and I believe that Judge 
Temple sent for a physician the moment we ar- 
lived.” 

“ Certainly,” said Marmaduke ; “ I have not for- 
gotten the object of thy visit, young man, nor the 
nature of my debt to thee.” 

“Oh!” exclaimed Richard, with something of 
a waggish leer, “ thou ow r est the lad for the veni- 
son, I suppose, that thou killed, cousin ’duke ! Mar- 
maduke ! Marmaduke ! That was a marvellous 
tale of thine about the buck ! Here, young man. 
are two dollars for the deer, and Judge Temple 
can do no less than pay the doctor. 1 shall charge 
you nothing for my services, but you shall not fare 
the worse for that. Come, come, ’duke, don’t be 
down-hearted about it; if you missed the buck, 
you contrived to shoot this poor fellrw through a 


82 


THE PIONEERS. 


pine-tree, Now I own that you have beat me , 
I never did such a thing in all my lift*-” 

“ And I hope never will,” returned the Judge, 
“ if you are to experience the uneasiness that 1 
have suffered. But be of good cheer, my young 
friend, the injury must be but small, as thou movest 
thy arm with apparent freedom.” 

“ Don’t make the matter worse, ’duke, by pre- 
tending, to talk about surgery,” interrupted Mr. 
Jones, with a contemptuous wave of the hand ; 
“ it is a science that can only be learnt by practice. 
You know that my grandfather was a doctor, but 
you haven’t got a drop of medical blood in your 
veins ; these kind of things run in families. All my 
family by the father’s side had a knack at physic. 
There was my uncle that was killed at Brandy- 
wine, he died twice as easy as any other man in 
the regiment, only from knowing how to do the 
thing as it ought to be done.” 

“ I doubt not, Dickon,” returned the Judge 
playfully, after meeting the bright smile, which, in 
spite of himself, stole over the stranger’s features, 
“ that thy family understood the art of letting a life 
slip through their fingers with great facility.” 

Richard heard him quite coolly, and putting a 
hand in either pocket of his surtout, so as to press 
forward the skirts with an air of vast disdain, be- 
gan to whistle a tune ; but the desire to reply over- 
came his philosophy, and with great heat he ex- 
claimed — 

“ You may affect to smile, Judge Temple, at he- 
reditary virtues, if you please ; but there is not a 
man on your Patent who don’t know better. Here, 
even this young man, who has never seen any 
thing but bears, and deers, and wood-chucks, knows 
better than not to believe in virtues being trans 
mitted down in families. Don’t you, friend p ” 


T-HE PIONEERS. 


83 


u 1 believe that vice is not,” said the stranger 
abruptly, his eye glancing keenly from the father 
to the daughter. 

“ The Squire is right, Judge,” observed Benja 
min with a knowing nod of his head towards Ri 
chard, that bespoke the cordiality between them. 
u Now, in the old country, the King’s Majesty 
touches for the evil, and that is a disorder that the 
greatest doctor in the fleet, or, for the matter of 
that, admiral either, can’t cure ; only the King’s 
Majesty, or a man that’s been hung. Oh ! yes, the 
Squire is right, for if so be that he wasn’t, how is 
it that the seventh son always is a doctor, whether 
he ships for the cock-pit or not ? Now, when we 
fell in with the mounsheers, under De Grasse, d’ye 
see, we had aboard of us a doctor — ” 

“ Very well, Benjamin,” interrupted Elizabeth, 
glancing her eyes from the hunter to Monsieur Le 
Quoi, who was most politely attending to what fell 
from each individual in succession, u you shall tell 
me of that, and all your entertaining adventures to- 
gether; just now, a room must be prepared, in 
which the arm of this gentleman can be dressed.” 

“ 1 will attend to that myself, cousin Elizabeth,” 
observed Richard, somewhat haughtily. “ The 
young man shall not suffer, because Marmaduke 
chooses to be a little obstinate. Follow me, my 
friend, and I will examine the hurt myself.” 

“ It will be well to wait for the physician,” said 
the hunter coldly ; “ he cannot be distant ; I will 
save you the trouble.” 

Richard paused, and looked earnestly at the 
speaker, a little astonished at the language, and a 
good deal appalled at the refusal. He instantly 
construed the latter into an act of hostility, and 
placing his hands in the pockets again, he walked 
up to Mr. Grant, and putting his face close to 


84 


THE PIONEERS. 


the countenance of the divine, he said in an undej 
tone — 

“ Now mark my words : there will be a story 
among the settlers, that all our necks would have 
been broken, but for that fellow there — as if I did 
not know how to drive. Why, you might have 
turned the horses yourself, sir ; nothing was ea- 
sier ; it was only pulling hard on the nigh rein, 
and touching the oft* flank of the leader. I hope, 
my dear sir, you are not at all hurt by the upset 
the. lad gave us ?” 

The reply was interrupted by the entrance of 
the village physician. 


CHAPTER VI. 


And about his shelves, 

A beggarly account of empty boxes. 

Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds, 
Remnants of pack -thread, and old cakes of roses, 
Were thinly scattered to make up a show. 

Shakspeare. 


Doctor Elnathan Todd, for such was the un- 
worthy name of the man of physic, was commonly 
thought to be, among the settlers, a gentleman of 
great mental endowments ; and he was assuredly 
of rare personal proportions. In height he mea- 
sured, without his shoes, exactly six feet and four 
inches. His hands, feet, and knees, corresponded 
in every respect with this formidable stature ; but 
every other part of his frame appeared to have been 
intended for a man several sizes smaller, if we ex- 
cept the length of the limbs. His shoulders were 
square, in one sense at least, being in a right line 
from one side to the other ; but they were so nar- 
row, that the long dangling arms that they sup- 
ported seemed to issue out of his back. His neck 
possessed, in an eminent degree, the property of 
length to which we have alluded, and it was top- 
ped by a small bullet-head, that exhibited, on one 
side, a bush of bristling brown hair, and on the 
other, a short, twinkling visage, that appeared to 
maintain a constant struggle with itself in order to 
look wise. He was the youngest son of a farmei 
8 


86 


THE PIONEERS. 


in the western part of Massachusetts, who, being 
in somewhat easy circumstances, had allowed this 
boy to shoot up to the height we have mentioned, 
without the ordinary interruptions of field-labour, 
wood-chopping, and such other toils as were impos- 
ed on his brothers. Elnathan was indebted for this 
exemption from labour, in some measure to his ex- 
traordinary growth, which, leaving him pale, inani- 
mate, and listless, induced his tender mother to 
pronounce him u a sickly boy, and one that was 
not equal to work, but who might earn a living, 
comfortably enough, by taking to pleading law, oi 
turning minister, or doctoring, or some sitch-like 
easy calling.” Still there was a great uncertainty 
which of these vocations the youth was best en- 
dowed to fill with credit and profit ; but, having no 
other employment, the stripling was constantly- 
lounging about the “ homestead,” munching green 
apples, and hunting for sorrel ; when the same sa- 
gacious eye, that had brought to light his latent 
'alents, seized upon this circumstance, as a clue to 
direct his future path through the turmoils of the 
world. “ Elnathan was cut out for a doctor,” she 
knew, “ for he was for ever digging for yarbs, and 
tasting all kinds of things that grow’d about the 
lots. Then again he had a nateral love for doctor- 
stuff, for when she had left the bilious pills out for 
her man, all nicely covered with maple sugar, just 
ready to take, Nathan had come in, and swallowed 
them, for all the world as if they were nothing, 
while Ichabod (her husband) could never get ?ne 
down without making sitch desperate faces, that 
it was awful to look on.” 

This discovery decided the matter. Elnathan. 
then about fifteen, was, much like a wild colt, caught 
and trimmed, by clipping his bushy locks ; dressed 
in a suit of homespun, died in the butternut bark 


THE PIONEERS. 


87 

furnished with a “ New Testament,” and a a Web- 
ster’s Spelling-Book,” and sent to school. As the 
boy was by nature quite shrewd enough, and had 
previously, at odd times, laid the foundations of 
reading, writing, and arithmetic, he was soon con- 
spicuous in the school for his learning. The de- 
lighted mother had the gratification of hearing, 
from the lips of the master, that her son was a 
u prodigious boy, and far above all his class.” He 
also thought that “ the youth had a natural love for 
doctoring, as he had known him frequently advise 
the smaller children against eating too much ; and 
once or twice, when the ignorant little things had 
persevered in opposition to Elnathan’s advice, he 
had known her son to empty the school-baskets 
with his own mouth, to prevent the consequences.” 

Soon after this comfortable declaration from his 
schoolmaster, the lad was removed to the house of 
the village doctor, a gentleman whose early career 
had not been unlike that of our hero, where he was 
to be seen, sometimes watering a horse, at others 
watering medicines, blue, yellow, and red ; then 
again he might be noticed, lolling under an apple- 
tree, with Ruddiman’s Latin Grammar in his hand, 
and a corner of Denman’s Midwifery sticking out 
of the pocket of his coat ; — for his instructer held 
it absurd to teach his pupil how to despatch a pa- 
tient regularly from this world, before he knew how 
to bring him into it. 

This kind of life continued for a twelvemonth, 
when he suddenly appeared at meeting in a long 
coat (and well did it deserve the name !) of black 
homespun, with little bootees, bound with unco- 
loured calf-skin, for the want of red morocco. 

Soon after, he was seen shaving with a dull ra- 
zor ; and but three or four months elapsed before 
seveial elderly ladies were observed hastening to 


S8 


THE PIONEERS. 


wards the house of a poor woman in the village, 
while others were running to and fro in great ap- 
parent distress. — One or two boys were mounted, 
bareback, on horses, and sent off at speed in vari- 
ous directions. Several indirect questions were 
put concerning where the physician was last ob- 
served ; but all would not do ; and at length Elna- 
than was seen issuing from his door, with a very 
grave air, preceded by a little white-headed boy, 
who, out of breath, was trotting before him. The 
following day the youth appeared in the street, as 
the highway was called, and the neighbourhood 
was astonished in observing how much he had 
grown lately. The same week he bought a new 
razor ; and the succeeding Sunday he entered the 
meeting-house with a red silk handkerchief in his 
hand, and with an extremely demure countenance. 
In the evening he called upon a young woman of 
his own class in life, for there were no others to be 
found, and, when he was left alone with the fair, 
he was called, for the first time in his life, Doctor 
Todd, by her prudent mother. The ice once 
broken in this manner, Elnathan was greeted from 
every mouth with his official appellation. 

Another year was passed under the superinten- 
dence of the same master, during which the young 
physician had the credit of u riding with the old 
doctor,” although they were generally observed to 
travel different roads. At the end of that period. 
Di. Todd attained his legal majority. He then 
took a jaunt to Boston, to purchase medicines, and, 
as some intimated, to walk the hospital ; we know 
not how the latter might have been, but if true, he 
soon walked through it, for he returned within a 
fortnight, bringing with him a suspiciously looking 
box, that smelled powerfully of brimstone. 

The next Sunday he was married; and the fol- 


THE PIONEERS. 


89 


lowing morning he entered a one-horse sleigh with 
his bride, having before him the box we have men- 
tioned, w r ith another filled with home-made house- 
hold linen, a paper-covered trunk, with a red urn 
brella lashed to it, a pair of quite new saddle-bags, 
and a bandbox. The next intelligence that his 
friends received of the bride and bridegroom was, 
that the latter was “ settled in the new countries, 
and well to do as a doctor, in Templeton, in York 
state.” 

If a Templar would smile at the qualifications of 
Marmaduke to fill the judicial seat that he occupied, 
we are certain that a graduate of Leyden or Edin- 
burgh would be extremely amused with this true 
narration of the servitude of Elnathan in the tem- 
ple of iEsculapius. But the same consolation was 
afforded to both the jurist and the leech ; for Dr. 
Todd was quite as much on a level with his com- 
peers in the profession in that country, as was Mar- 
maduke with his brethren on the bench. 

Time and practice did wonders for the physician. 
He was naturally humane, but possessed no small 
share of moral courage ; or, in other words, he was 
chary of the lives of his patients, and never tried 
uncertain experiments on such members of society 
as were considered useful ; but once or twice, when 
a luckless vagrant had come under his care, he was 
a little addicted to trying the effects of every vial 
in his saddle-bags on the stranger’s constitution. 
Happily their number was small, and in most cases 
their natures innocent. By these means Elnathan 
had acquired a certain degree of knowledge in fe- 
vers and agues, and could talk with much judgment 
concerning intermittents, remittents, tertians, quo- 
tidians, &c. In certain cutaneous disorders, very 
prevalent in new settlements, he w T as considered 
to be infallible ; and there was no woman on the 
8 * 


90 


THE PIONEERS. 


Patent, but would as soon think of becoming a 
mother without a husband, as without the assist- 
ance of Dr. Todd. In short, he was rearing, on 
this foundation of sand, a superstructure, cemented 
by practice, though composed of somewhat brittle 
materials. He, however, occasionally renewed his 
elementary studies, and, with' the observation of a 
shrewd mind, was applying his practice to his 
theory. 

In surgery, having the least experience, and it 
being a business that spoke directly to the senses, 
he was most apt to distrust his own powers ; but 
he had applied oils to several burns, cut round the 
roots of sundry defective teeth, and sewed up the 
wounds of numberless wood-choppers, with con- 
siderable eclat, when an unfortunate jobber suffer- 
ed a fracture of his leg by the tree that he had 
been felling. It was on this occasion that our hero 
encountered the greatest trial that his nerves and 
moral feeling had ever sustained. In the hour of 
need, he was, however, not found wanting. — Most 
of the amputations in the new settlements, and they 
were quite frequent, were performed by some one 
practitioner, who, possessing originally a reputation, 
was enabled by this circumstance to acquire an ex- 
perience that rendered him deserving of it ; and 
Elnathan had been present at one or two of these 
operations. But on the present occasion the man 
of practice was not to be obtained, and the duty 
fell, as a matter of course, to the share of Mr. Todd. 
He went to work with a kind of blind desperation, 
observing, at the same time, all the externals of 
decent gravity and great skill. The sufferer’s name 
was Milligan, and it was to this event that Richard 
alluded, when he spoke of assisting the Doctor, at 
an amputation — by holding the leg ! The limb was 
certainly cut off, and the patient survived the ope- 


THE PIONEERS. 


91 


nation. It was, however, two years before poor 
Milligan ceased to complain that they had buried 
the leg in so narrow a box, that it was straiten- 
ed for toom ; he knew this to be true, for he could 
feel the pain shooting up from the inhumed frag- 
ment into his living members. Marmaduke sug- 
gested that the fault might lie in the living arteries 
and nerves ; but Richard, considering the amputa 
tion as part of his own handy- work, strongly re- 
pelled the insinuation, at the same time declaring, 
that he had often heard of men who could tell when 
it was about to rain, by the toes of amputated limbs. 
After two or three years, notwithstanding that Mil- 
ligan’s complaints gradually diminished, the leg 
was dug up, and a larger box furnished, and from 
that hour no one had heard the sufferer utter an- 
other complaint on the subject. This gave the 
public great confidence in Doctor Todd, whose re- 
putation was hourly increasing, and luckily for his 
patients, his information also. 

Notwithstanding Mr. Todd’s six years’ practice, 
and his success with the leg, he was not a little 
appalled, on entering the hall of the mansion- 
house. It was glaring with the light of day ; it 
looked so splendid and imposing, compared with 
the hastily built and scantily furnished apartments 
which he frequented in his ordinary practice, and 
sontained so many well-dressed persons, and anx- 
iously looking-faces, that his usually firm nerves 
were a good deal discomposed. He had heard 
from the messenger who summoned him, that it was 
a gun-shot wound, and had come from his own 
home, wading through the snow, with his saddle- 
bags thrown over his arm, while separated arteries, 
penetrated lungs, and injured vitals, were whirling 
through his brain, as if he were stalking ovei a 


92 


THE PIONEERS. 


field of battle, instead of Judge Temple’s peacea- 
ble enclosure. 

The first object that met his eye, as be moved 
into the room, was Elizabeth, in her riding-habit, 
richly laced with gold cord, her fine form bending 
towards him, with her face expressing deep anxie- 
ty in every one of its beautiful features. The enor- 
mous bony knees of the physician struck each other 
with a noise that was audible ; for in the absent 
state of his mind, he mistook her for a general offi- 
cer, perforated with bullets, hastening from the 
field of battle to implore his assistance. The de- 
lusion, however, was but momentary, and his eye 
glanced rapidly from the daughter to the earnest 
dignity of the father’s countenance ; thence to the 
busy strut of Richard, who was cooling his impa- 
tience at the hunter’s indifference to his offered 
assistance, by pacing the hall and cracking his whip ; 
from him, to the Frenchman, who had stood for 
several minutes unheeded with a chair for the lady ; 
thence to Major Hartmann, who was very coolly 
lighting a pipe three feet long by a candle in one 
of the chandeliers ; thence to Mr. Grant, who was 
turning over a manuscript with much earnestness 
at one of the lustres ; thence to Remarkable, who 
stood, with her aims demurely folded before her, 
surveying with a look of admiration and envy the 
dress and beauty of the young lady ; and from hei 
to Benjamin, who, with his feet standing wide apart, 
and his arms a-kimbo, was balancing his square 
little body, with the indifference of one who was 
accustomed to wounds and bloodshed. All of these 
seemed to be unhurt, and the operator began to 
breathe more freely ; but before he had time to 
take a second look, the Judge, advancing, shook 
him kindly by the hand, and spoke. 


THE PIONEERS. 


93 


“‘Thou art welcome, ray good sir, quite wel- 
come, indeed ; here is a youth, whom I have un- 
fortunately wounded in shooting a deer this evening, 
and who requires some of thy assistance.” 

“ Shooting at a deer, ’duke,” interrupted Ri- 
chard, abruptly — “Shooting at a deer. Who do you 
think can prescribe, unless he knows the truth of 
the case ? It is always so, with some people ; they 
think a doctor can be deceived, with the same im- 
punity as another man.” 

“ Shooting at a deer truly,” returned the Judge, 
with a smile, “ although it is by no means certain 
that I did not aid in destroying the buck ; but the 
youth is injured by my hand, be that as it may ; 
and it is thy skill, that must cure him, and my 
pocket, that shall amply reward thee for it.” 

“ Two ver good tings to depend on,” observed 
Monsieur Le Quoi, bowing politely, with a sweep 
of his head, to the Judge and the practitioner. 

“ I thank you, Monsieur,” returned the Judge ; 
w but we keep the young man in pain. Remarka- 
ble, thou wilt please to provide linen for lint and 
bandages.” 

This remark caused a cessation of the compli- 
ments, and induced the physician to turn an inquir- 
ing eye in the direction of his patient. During the 
dialogue the young hunter had thrown aside his 
over-coat, and now stood clad in a plain suit of the 
common, light-coloured, homespun of the country, 
that was evidently but recently made. His hand 
was on the lapels of his coat, in the attitude of re- 
moving the garment, when he suddenly suspended 
the movement, and looked towards the commise- 
rating Elizabeth, who w T as standing in an unchanged 
posture, too much absorbed with her anxious feel- 
ings to heed his actions. A slight colour appear- 
ed passing over the brow' of the youth, as he spoke. 


94 


THE PIOJNEERS. 


“ Possibly the sight of blood may alarm the lady , 
I will retire to another room, while the wound is 
dressing.” 

“ By no means,” said Dr. Todd, who, having 
discovered that his patient was far from being a 
man of importance, felt wonderfully emboldened to 
perform his duty. — “ The strong light of these can- 
dles is favourable to the operation, and it is seldom 
that we hard students enjoy good eyesight.” 

While speaking, Elnathan placed a pair of large 
-ron-rimmed spectacles on his face, where they 
dropped, as it were by long practice, to the extre- 
mity of his slim, pug nose ; and if they were of no 
service as assistants to his eyes, neither were they 
any impediment to his vision ; for his little, gray 
organs were twinkling above them, like two stars 
emerging from the cover of an envious cloud. The 
action was unheeded by all but Remarkable, who 
observed to Benjamin — 

“ Doctor Todd is a comely man to look on, and 
a displut pretty spoken one too. How well he 
seems in spectacles. 1 declare, they give a grand 
look to a body’s face. I have quite a great mind 
to try them myself.” 

The speech of the stranger recalled the recol- 
lection of Miss Temple, who started, as if from 
deep abstraction, and, colouring excessively, she 
motioned to a young woman, who served in the 
capacity of a maid, and retired, with an air of wo- 
manly reserve. 

The field was now left to the physician and his 
patient, while the different personages who re- 
mained, gathered around the latter, with faces ex- 
pressing the various degrees of interest, that each 
one felt in his condition. Major Hartmann alone re- 
tained his seat, where he continued to throw out 
vast quantities of smoke, now roll i n u; his eyes up 


THE PIONEERS. 


95 


to the ceiling, as if musing on the uncertainty ol 
life, and now bending them on the wounded man, 
with an expression that bespoke some conscious- 
ness of his situation. 

In the mean time, Elnathan, to whom the sight 
of a gun-shot wound was a perfect novelty, com- 
menced his preparations, with a solemnity and care 
that were worthy of the occasion. An old shirt 
was procured by Benjamin, and placed in the hands 
of the other, who tore divers bandages from it, 
with an exactitude, that marked both his own skill, 
and the importance of the operation. 

The moment Richard heard the sound that was 
produced by rending the linen, he stepped up to 
the group, with the air of one who well under- 
stood the business in hand. When this preparato- 
ry measure was taken, Dr. Todd selected a piece 
of the shirt with great care, and, handing it to Mr. 
Jones, withaut moving a muscle, said — 

“ Here, Squire Jones, you are well acquainted 
with these things ; will you please to scrape the 
lint ? It should be fine, and soft, you know, my 
dear sir ; and be cautious that no cotton gets in, 
or it may p’ison the wownd. The shirt has been 
made with cotton thread, but you can easily pick 
it out.” 

Richard assumed the office, with a nod at his 
cousin, that said, quite plainly, “ You see, this fel- 
low can’t get along without me and began to 
scrape the piece of linen on his knee, with great 
diligence. 

A table was now spread, by the practitioner, 
with vials, boxes of salve, and divers surgical in- 
struments. As the latter appeared, in succession, 
from a case of red morocco, their owner held up 
each implement to the strong light of the chande- 
lier, near to which he stood, and examined it, with 


96 


THE PIONEERS. 


the nicest care and precision. A red silk handker- 
chief was frequently applied to the glittering steel, 
as if to remove from the polished surfaces, the 
least impediment, which might exist, to the most 
delicate operation. After the rather scantily fur- 
nished pocket-case, which contained these instru- 
ments, was exhausted, the physician turned to his 
saddle bags, and produced various vials, filled with 
liquids, of the most radiant colours. These were 
arranged, in due order, by the side of the murder- 
ous saws, knives, and scissors, when Elnathan 
stretched his long body to its utmost elevation, 
placing his hand on the small of his back, as if for 
support, and looked about him to discover what ef- 
fect this display of his professional skill was likely 
to produce on the spectators. 

“ Upon my wort, toctor,” observed Major Hart- 
mann, with a roguish roll of his little black eyes, 
but with every other feature of his face in a state 
of perfect rest, “put you have a very pretty pock- 
et-pook of tools tere, and your toctor-stuff glitters, 
as if it was petter for ter eyes as for ter pelly.” 

Elnathan gave a somewhat equivocal hem, be- 
fore he replied — one that might have been equally 
taken for that kind of noise which cowards are 
said to make, in order to awaken their dormant 
courage, or for a natural effort to clear the throat 
if for the latter, it was successful ; fox, turning his 
face to the veteran German, he said — 

“Very true, Major Hartmann, very true, sir*, 
a prudent man will always strive to make his reme- 
dies agreeable to the eyes, though they may not 
altogether suit the stomach. It is no small part of 
our art, sir,” and he now spake with the confidence 
of a man who understood his subject, “ to recon- 
cile the patient to what is for his own good, though, 
at the same time, it may be unpalatable.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


97 


44 Sartain ! Doctor Todd is right,” said Remark- 
able, “ and has Scrip ter for miat he says. The 
Bible tells ns, how things monght be sweet to the 
month, and bitter to the inwards.” 

44 True, trne,” interrupted the Judge, a little im- 
patiently ; 44 bnt here is a yonth who needs no de- 
ception to hire him to his own benefit. I see, by 
his eye, that he fears nothing more than delay.” 

The stranger had, without assistance, bared his 
own shoulder, when the slight perforation, pro- 
duced by the passage of the buck-shot, was plain- 
ly visible. The intense cold of the evening had 
stopped the bleeding, and Dr. Todd, casting a fur- 
tive glance at the wound, thought it by no means 
so formidable an affair as he had anticipated. Thus 
encouraged, he approaches his patient, and made 
some indication of an intention to trace the route 
that had been taken by the lead. 

Remarkable often found occasions, in after days, 
to recount the minutiae of that celebrated opera- 
tion : and when she arrived at this point, she com- 
monly proceeded as follows : — 44 And then the 
Doctor tuck out of the pocket-book a long thing 
like a knitting-needle, with a button fastened to the 
end on’t ; and then he pushed it into the wownd ; 
and then the young man looked awful ; and then 
I thought I should have swaned away — I felt in 
sich a disp’ut taking ; and then the Doctor had 
run it right through his shoulder, and shoved the 
bullet out on t’other side; and so Doctor Todd 
cured the young man — of a ball that the Judge had 
shot into him, for all the world, as easy as I could 
jpick out a splinter, with my darning-needle.” 

Such wefe the impressions of -Remarkable on 
the subject ; and such, doubtless, were the opin- 
ions of most of those who felt it necessary to enter 


98 


THE PIONEER S. 


tain a species of religious veneration for the abilities 
and skill of Elnathan ; but such was far from the truth 

When the physician attempted, to introduce the 
instrument described by Remarkable, he was re- 
pulsed by the stranger, with a good deal of deci- 
sion, and some little contempt, in his manner. 

w I believe, sir,” he said, “ that a probe is not 
necessary ; the shot has missed the bone, and has 
passed directly through the arm to the opposite 
side, where it remains but skin-deep, and whence, 
I should think, it might be easily extracted.” 

“The gentleman knows best,” said Dr. Todd, 
laying down the probe, with the air of a man who 
had assumed it merely in compliance with forms , 
and turning to Richard, he fingered the lint, with 
the appearance of great care and foresight. “ Ad- 
mirably well scraped, squire Jones ! it is about the 
best lint I have ever seen. I want your assistance, 
my good sir, to hold the patient’s arm, while I make 
an incision for the ball. Now, I rather guess, there 
is not another gentleman present who could scrape 
the lint so well as squire Jones.” 

“ Such things run in families,” observed Ri- 
chard, rising with alacrity to render the desired as- 
sistance. “ My father, and my grandfather before 
him, were both celebrated for their knowledge of 
surgery; they were not, like Marmaduke here, 
puffed up with an accidental thing, such as the time 
when he drew in the hip-joint of the man who wa? 
thrown from his horse : that was the fall before you 
came into the settlement, Doctor ; but they were 
men who were taught the thing regularly, spend- 
ing half their lives in learning those little niceties; 
though, for the matter of that, my grandfather was 
a college-bred physician, and the best in the colo- 
ny, too — that is, in his neighbourhood.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


99 


“ So it goes with the world, Squire/’ cried Ben 
jamin, u if-so-be that a man wants to walk the 
quarter-deck with credit, d’ye see, and with regu- 
lar built swabs on his shoulders, he mus’nt think 
to do it, by getting in at the cabin-windows. There 
are two ways to get into a top, besides the lubber- 
holes. The true way to walk aft, is to begin for- 
rard ; tho’f it be only in an humble way, like my- 
self, d’ye see, which was, from being only a hander 
of top-gallant-sails, and a stower of the flying-jib, 
to keeping the key of the Captain’s locker ” 
u Benjamin speaks quite to the purpose,” con- 
tinued Richard, with a benevolent smile, directed 
the Doctor. “ I dare say, that he has often seen 
shot extracted, in the different ships in which he 
_ias served ; suppose we gethim to hold the basin ; 
he must be used to the sight of blood.” 

“ That he is, Squire, that he is,” interrupted the 
ci-devant steward : “ many’s the good shot, round, 
double-headed, and grape, that I’ve seen the doc- 
tors at work on. For the matter of that, I was in 
a boat, alongside the ship, when they cut out the 
twelve-pound shot from the thigh of the Captain 
of the Foody-rong, one of Mounsheer Ler Quaw’s 
countrymen, there !” 

“ A twelve-pound ball from the thigh of a human 
being !” exclaimed Mr. Grant, with great simplici- 
ty, dropping the sermon he was again reading, and 
raising his spectacles, from before his eyes, to the 
*op of his forehead. 

“ A twelve-pounder !” echoed Benjamin staring 
around him, with much confidence ; “ a twelve- 
pounder ! ay ! a twenty-four pound shot can easily 
be taken from a man’s body, if-so-be a doctor only 
knows how. There’s Squire Jones, now, ask him, 
sir ; he reads all the books ; ask him, if he never 


100 


THE PIONEERS. 


fell in with a page that keeps the reckoning of 
such things.” 

“ Certainly, more important operations than tha! 
have been performed,” observed Richard ; “ the 
Encyclopaedia mentions much more incredible cir 
cumstances than that, as, I dare say, you know 
Doctor Todd.” 

“ Certainly, there are incredible tales told of 
such matters,” returned Elnathan, “though I can- 
not say, that I have ever seen, myself, any thing 
larger than a musket-bullet extracted.” 

During this discourse, an incision had been made 
through the skin of the young hunter’s shoulder, 
and the lead was laid hare. Elnathan now toe 1 ' 
into his hand, with a solemn air, a pair of glittering 
(orceps, and was in the act of applying them to the 
wound, when a sudden motion of the patient caused 
the shot to fall out of itself. The long arm and 
broad hand of the operator were now of singular 
service ; for the latter expanded itself, and caught 
the lead, while at the same time, an extremely am- 
biguous motion was made, by its brother, so as to 
leave it doubtful to the spectator, how great wa? 
its agency in releasing the shot. Richard, how- 
ever, put the matter at rest, by exclaiming — 

“ Very neatly done, Doctor! I have never seen 
a shot more neatly extracted ; and, I dare say, 
Benjamin will say the same.” 

“ Why, considering,” returned Benjamin, “ I 
must say, that it was ship-shape, and Blister- 
fashion. — Now all that the Doctor has to do, is to 
clap a couple of plugs in the shot holes, and the 
iad will float in any gale, that blows in these here 
hills.” 

“ I thank you, sir, for what you have done,” 
said the youth, with a little distance : “ But here 


THE PIONEERS. 


101 


is a man, who will take me under his care, and 
spare you all, gentlemen, any further trouble on 
my account.” 

The whole group turned their heads m surprise, 
and beheld, standing at one of the distant doojtg 
the haH* the person of Indian John. 


CHAPTER VII 


From Susquehanna’s utmost springs. 
Where savage tribes pursue their game, 
His blanket tied with yellow strings, 
The shepherd of the forest came. 

Freneau. 


Before the Europeans, or, to use a more signi- 
h^Ant term, the Christians, dispossessed the ori- 
ginal owners of the soil, all that section of country, 
which contains the New-England States, and those 
ol the Middle, which lie east of the mountains, was 
occupied by two great nations of Indians, from 
whom numberless tribes had descended. But, as 
the original distinctions between these nations were 
marked by a difference in language, as well as by 
repeated and bloody wars, they never were known 
to amalgamate, until after the power and inroads 
of the whites had reduced some of the tribes to a 
state of dependence that rendered not only their 
political, but, considering the wants and habits of 
a savage, their animal existence also, extremely 
precarious. 

These two great divisions consisted, on the one 
side, of the Five, or, as they were afterward call- 
ed, the Six Nations, and their allies; and, on the 
other, of the Lenni Lenape, or Delawares, with 
the numerous and powerful tribes, that owned that 
nation as their Grandfather. The former were 


THE PIONKKRS. 


10-3 

generally called, by the Anglo-Americans, Iroquois, 
or the Six Nations, and sometimes Mingoes. Their 
appellation, among their rivals, seems generally to 
have been the Mengwe, or Maqua. They consist- 
ed of the tribes, or, as their allies were fond of 
asserting, in order to raise their consequence, of 
the several nations of the Mohawks, the Oneidas, 
:he Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas ; who rank- 
ed, in the confederation, in the order with which 
they are named. The Tuscaroras were admitted 
to this union, near a century after its formation, 
and thus completed the number to six. 

Of the Lenni Lfinape, or as they were called by 
the whites, from the circumstance of their holding 
their great council-fire on the banks of that river, 
the Delaware nation, the principal tribes, besides 
that which bore the generic name, were, the Ma- 
hicanni, Mohicans or Mohegans, and the Nanti- 
cokes, or Nentigoes. Of these, the latter held the 
country along the waters of the Chesapeake and 
the sea-shore ; while the Mohegans occupied the 
district between the Hudson and the ocean, in- 
cluding most of New-England. Of course, these 
two tribes were the first who were dispossessed 
of their lands by the Europeans. 

The w*ars of a portion of the latter are celebrat- 
ed among us, as the wars of King Philip ; but the 
peaceful policy of William Penn, or Miquon, as he 
was termed by the natives, effected its object with 
less difficulty, though not with less certainty. As 
the natives gradually disappeared from the country 
of the Mohegans, some scattering families sought 
a refuge around the council-fire of the mother tribe, 
or the Delawares. 

This people had been induced to suffer them- 
selves to be called women , by their old enemies, 
the Mingoes, or Iroquois, after the latter, having 


104 


THE IIONEERS 


in vain tried the effects of hostility, had recourse to 
artifice, in order to circumvent their rivals. Ac- 
cording to this declaration, the Delawares were to 
cultivate the arts of peace, and to intrust their de- 
fence entirely to the men, or warlike tribes of the 
Six nations. 

This state of things continued until the war of 
the revolution, when the Lenni Lenape formally 
asserted their independence, and fearlessly declar- 
ed, that they were again men. But in a govern- 
ment so peculiarly republican as the Indian polity, 
it was not, at all times, an easy task to restrain 
their members within the rules of their nation. 
Several fierce and renowned warriors, of the Mo- 
hegans, finding the conflict with the whites to be 
in vain, sought a refuge with their Grandfather, 
and brought with them the feelings and principles 
that had so long distinguished them in their own 
tribe. These chieftains kept alive, in some mea- 
sure, the martial spirit of the Delawares ; and 
would, at times, lead small parties against their an- 
cient enemies, or such other foes as incurred their 
resentment. 

Among these warriors was one race particularly 
famous for their prowess, and for those qualities 
that render an Indian hero celebrated. But time, 
disease, and want, had conspired to thin their num- 
ber ; and the sole representative of this once re- 
nowned family now stood in the hall of Marmaduke 
Temple. He had, for a long time, been an asso- 
ciate of the white men, particularly in their wars ; 
and, having been, at a season when his services 
were of importance, much noticed and flattered, 
he had turned Christian, and was baptized by the 
name of John. He had suffered severely in his 
family during the recent war, having had every soul 
to whom he was allied cut off by an inroad of the 


THE PIONEERS. 


105 


enemy ; and when the last, lingering remnant of 
his nation extinguished their fires, among the hills 
of the Delaware, he alone had remained, with a de- 
termination of laying his bones in that country, 
where his fathers had so long lived and governed. 

It was only, however, within a few months, that 
he had appeared among the mountains that sur- 
rounded Templeton. To the hut of the old hunt- 
er he seemed peculiarly welcome ; and, as the 
habits of the “ Leather-Stocking” were so nearly 
assimilated to those of the savages, the conjunction • 
of their interests excited no surprise. They re- 
sided in the same cabin, ate of the same food, and 
were chiefly occupied in the same pursuits. 

We have already mentioned the baptismal name 
of this ancient chief ; but in his conversation with 
Natty, held in the language of the Delawares, he 
was heard uniformly to call himself Chingachgook, 
which, interpreted, means the * c Great Snake.” 
This was a name that he had attained in his youth, 
by his skill and prowess in the art of war; but 
when his brows began to wrinkle with time, and 
he stood alone, the last of his family, and his par- 
ticular tribe, the few Delawares, who yet continu- 
ed about the head-waters of their river, gave him 
the expressive appellation of Mohegan. Perhaps 
there was something of deep feeling excited in the 
bosom of this inhabitant of the forest by the sound 
of a name that recalled the idea of his nation in 
ruins, for he seldom used it himself — never indeed, 
excepting on the most solemn occasions ; but the 
settlers had united, according to the Christian cus- 
tom, his baptismal with his national name, and to 
them he was generally known as John Mohegan, 
or, more familiarly, as Indian John. 

From his long association with the white men, 
the habits of Mohegan were a mixture of the civil 


106 


THE PIONEERS. 


ized and savage states, though there was certainly 
a strong preponderance in favour of the latter. In 
common with all his people, who dwelt within the 
influence of the Anglo-Americans, he had acquired 
new wants, and his dress was a mixture of his na 
tive fashions with European manufactures. Not 
withstanding the intense cold of the atmosphere 
without, his head was uncovered ; but a profusion 
of long, black, coarse hair, concealed his forehead, 
his crown, and even hung about his cheeks, so as 
to convey the idea, to one who knew his present 
and former conditions, that he encouraged its abun- 
dance, as a willing veil, to hide the shame of a no- 
ble soul, mourning for a glory that it had once 
known. His forehead, when it could be seen, ap- 
peared lofty, broad, and noble. His nose was high, 
and of the kind called Roman, with nostrils that 
expanded, in his seventieth year, with the air of 
freedom that had distinguished them when a youth. 
His mouth was large, but compressed, and possess- 
ing a great share of expression and character, and, 
when opened, discovered a perfect set of short, 
.strong, and regular teeth. His chin was full, though 
not prominent ; and his face bore the infallible mark 
of his people, in its square, high cheek-bones. The 
eyes were not large, but their black orbs glittered 
in the rays of the candles, as he gazed intently 
down the hall, like two balls of fire. 

The instant that Mohegan observed himself to 
be noticed by the group around the young stran- 
ger, he dropped the blanket, which covered the 
upper part of his frame, from his shoulders, suffer- 
ing it to fall over his leggins, of untanned deer-skin, 
where it was retained by a belt of bark, that con- 
fined it to his waist, and moved forward. 

As he walked slowly down the long hall, the un 
usually dignified and deliberate tread of the Indiau 


THE PIONEERS. 


107 


surpi ised the spectators. His shoulders, and bod); 
to his waist, were entirely bare, with the excep- 
tion of a silver medallion of Washington, that was 
suspended from his neck by a thong of buck-skin, 
and rested on his high chest, amidst the scars of 
many wounds. His shoulders were rather broad 
and full ; but the arms, though straight and grace- 
ful, wanted the muscular appearance that labour 
alone can give to a race of men. The medallion 
was the only ornament he wore, although enormous 
slits in the rim of either ear, which suffered the 
cartilages to fall for two inches below the members, 
were evidently used for the purposes of decoration, 
in other days. In his hand he held a small basket, 
of the ash-wood slips, coloured in divers fantastical 
conceits, with red and black paints mingled with 
the white of the wood. 

As this child of the forest approached them, the 
whole party stood aside-, and allowed him to con- 
front the evident object of his visit. He did not 
speak, however, but stood, fixing his glowing eyes 
on the shoulder of the young hunter, and then 
turning them intently on the countenance of the 
Judge. The latter was a good deal astonished at 
this unusual departure from the ordinarily subdued 
and quiet manner of the Indian ; but soon recover 
ing himself, he extended his hand, and said — 

“ Thou art welcome, John. This youth enter- 
tains a high opinion of thy skill, it seems, for he 
prefers thee to dress his wound even to our good 
friend Dr. Todd.” 

Mohegan now spoke, in tolerable English, but 
in a low, monotonous, guttural tone : — 

a The children of Miquon do not love the sight 
of blood ; and yet, the young eagle has been struck 
by the hand that should do no evil !” 

“Mohegan! old lohn!” exclaimed the Judge, in 


108 


THE PIONEERS. 


horror, and turning his fine, manly, open counte- 
nance to the other; “thinkest thou, that my hand 
has ever drawn human blood willingly ? F or shame ! 
for shame, old John ! thy religion should have 
taught thee better.” 

“The evil spirit sometimes lives in the best 
heart,” returned John, impressively, as he tried 
to study the countenance of the Judge; “but my 
brother speaks the truth ; his hand has never taken 
life, when awake ; no ! not even when the chil- 
dren of the great English Father were making the 
waters red with the blood of his people.” 

“ Surely, John,” said Mr. Grant, with much 
earnestness, “ you remember the divine command 
of our Saviour, ‘judge not, lest ye be judged.’ 
What motive could Judge Temple have for injur- 
ing a youth like this ; one to whom he is unknown, 
and from whom he can receive neither injury nor 
favour !” 

John listened respectfully to the divine, and w r hen 
he had concluded, the Indian stretched out his 
arm, and said with energy — 

“ He is innocent — my brother has not done this 
w r rong.” 

Marmaduke received the offered hand of the 
other with a benevolent smile, that showed, how r - 
ever he might be astonished at his suspicion, he 
had ceased to resent it ; while the w r ounded youth 
stood, gazing from his red friend to his host, with 
an expression of scornful pity powerfully delineat- 
ed in his countenance. No sooner was this act of 
pacification exchanged, than John proceeded to dis 
charge the duty, to perform which he had come. 
Dr. Todd w r as far from manifesting any displeasure 
at this invasion of his rights, but made way for the 
new leech, w ith an air that expressed a willingness 
to gratify the humouis of his patient, now that the 


THE PIONEERS. 


109 


aii-important part of the business was so success- 
fully performed, and nothing remained to be done, 
but what any child might effect. Indeed, he whis- 
pered as much to Monsieur Le Quoi, when he 
said — 

u It was fortunate that the ball was extracted 
before this Indian came in ; but any old woman 
can dress the wound now. The young man, I hear, 
lives with John and Natty Bumppo, and it’s al- 
ways best to humour a patient, when it can be done 
discreetly — I say, discreetly, Monsieur.” 

“ Certainement,” returned the Frenchman ; 
“ you seem ver happy, Mister Todd, in your prac- 
teece. I should tink de elderly lady might ver 
well finish, vat you so skeelfully begin.” 

But Richard had, at the bottom, a great deal o' 
veneration for the knowledge of Mohegan, espe- 
cially in external wounds ; and retaining all his de- 
sire for a participation in glory, he advanced nigh 
to the Indian, and said — 

“ Sago, sago, Mohegan ! sago, my good fellow ! 
I am right glad you have come ; give me a regular 
physician, like Dr. Todd, to cut into flesh, and a 
native to heal the wound. Do you remember, John, 
the time when I and you set the bone of Natty Bump- 
po’s little finger, after he broke it by falling from 
the rock, when he was trying to get the partridge 
down, that fell on the cliffs. I never could tell 
yet, whether it was I or Natty, who killed that 
bird : he fired first, and the bird stooped, but then 
it was rising again, just as I pulled trigger. I should 
have claimed it, for a certainty, but Natty said the 
hole was too big for shot, and he fired a single ball 
from his rifle ; but the piece I carried then didn’t 
scatter, and I have known it to bore a hole through 
a board, when I’ve been shooting at the mark, 
very much like rifle-bullets. Shall I help vou, 
10 


110 


THE PIONEERS 


John? You know that I have a knack at these 
things.” 

Mohegan heard this disquisition quite patiently, 
and when Richard concluded, he held out the bas- 
ket, which contained his specifics, indicating, by a 
gesture, that he might hold it. Mr. Jones was 
quite satisfied with this commission ; and, ever af- 
ter, in speaking of the event, was used to say, that 
“ Doctor Todd and I cut out the bullet, and I and 
Indian John dressed the wound.” 

The patient was much more deserving of that 
epithet, while under the hands of Mohegan, than 
while suffering under the practice of the true phy- 
sician. Indeed, the Indian gave him but little op- 
portunity for the exercise of a forbearing temper, 
«* he had come prepared for the occasion. His 
dressings were soon applied, and consisted only of 
some pounded bark, moistened with a fluid that he 
had expressed from some of the simples of the 
woods. 

Among the native tribes of the forest, there were 
always two kinds of leeches to be met with. The 
one placed its whole dependence on the exercise 
of a supernatural power, and was held in greater 
veneration than their practice could at all justify ; 
but the other was really endowed with great skill, 
in the ordinary complaints of the human body, and 
was, more particularly, as Natty had intimated, 
c curous in cuts and bruises.” 

While John and Richard were placing the dress- 
ings on the wound, Elnathan was acutely eyeing 
the contents of Mohegan’s basket, which Mr. Jones, 
in his physical ardour, had transferred to the Doc- 
tor, in order to hold, himself, one end of the ban- 
dages. Here he was soon enabled to detect sundry 
fragments of wood and bark, of which he, quite, 
coolly, took possession, > T ery possibly without any 


THE PIONEERS. 


ID 


intention of speaking at all upon the subject; but 
when he beheld the full, blue eye of Marmaduke, 
watching his movements, he whispered to the 
Judge — 

“ It is not to be denied, Judge Temple, but what 
the savages are knowing, in small matters of phy- 
sic. They hand these things down in their tradi 
tions. Now in cancers and hydrophoby, they are 
quite ingenious. I will just take this bark home, 
and analyze it ; for, though it can’t be worth six- 
pence to the young man’s shoulder, it may be good 
for the toothach, or rheumatis, or some of them 
complaints. A man should never be above learn- 
ing, even if it be from an Indian.” 

It was fortunate for Dr. Todd, that his princi- 
ples were so liberal, as, coupled with his practice, 
they were the means by which he acquired all his 
knowledge, and by which he was gradually quali- 
fying himself for the duties of his profession. The 
process to which he subjected the specific, differed, 
however, greatly from the* ordinary rules of chy- 
mistry ; for, instead of separating, he afterward unit- 
ed the component parts of Mohegan’s remedy, and 
thus was able to discover the tree whence the In- 
dian had taken it. 

Some ten years after this event, when civiliza- 
tion and its refinements had crept, or rather rush- 
ed, into the settlements among these wild hills, an 
affaii of honour occurred, and Elnathan was seen 
to apply a salve to the wound that was received by 
one of the parties, which had the flavour that was 
peculiar to the tree, or root, that Mohegan had 
used. Ten years later still, when England and 
the United States were again engaged in war, and 
the hordes of the western parts of the state ot 
New-York weie rushing to the field, Elnathan- 
presuming on the reputation obtained by these two 


t.2 


THE PIONEERS. 


operations, followed in the rear of a brigade of 
militia, as its surgeon ! 

When Mohegan had applied the bark, he fieely 
relinquished to Richard the needle and thread, that 
were used in sewing the bandages, for these were 
implements of which the native but little under- 
stood the use ; and, stepping back, with decent 
gravity, awaited the completion of the business by 
the other. 

“ Reach me the scissors,” said Mr. Jones, when 
he had finished, and finished for the sbcond time, 
after tying the linen in every shape and form that 
it could be placed ; “ reach me the scissors, for 
here is a thread that must be cut off, or it might 
get under the dressings, and inflame the wound. 
See, John, I have put the lint I scraped, between 
two layers of the linen ; for though the bark is cer- 
tainly best for the flesh, yet the lint will serve to 
keep the cold air from the wound. If any lint will 
do it good, it is this lint ; for I scraped it myself, 
and I will not turn my back, at scraping lint, to any 
man on the Patent. But I ought to know how, 
if any body ought, for my grandfather was a doctor, 
and my father had a natural turn that way.” 

“ Here, Squire, is the scissors,” said Remarka- 
ble, producing from beneath her petticoat of green 
moreen, a pair of dull-looking shears ; “ well, upon 
my say so, you have sewed on the rags as well as 
a woman.” 

“ As well as a woman,” echoed Richard, with 
indignation ; “ what do women know of such mat- 
ters ? and you are proof of the truth of what I say. 
Who ever saw such a pair of shears used about a 
wound ? Dr. Todd, I will thank you for the scis- 
sors from the case. Now, young man, I think 
vou’ll do. The shot has been very neatly taken 
out, although, perhaps, seeing I had a hand in it, I 


THE PIONEERS. 


113 


ought not to say so ; and the wound is most admi- 
rably dressed. You will soon be well again; 
though the jerk you gave my leaders must have a 
tendency to inflame the shoulder, yet, you will do, 
you will do. You were rather flurried, I suppose, 
and not used to horses ; but I forgive the accident, 
for the motive : — no doubt, you had the best of 
motives ; — yes, yes, now you will do.” 

“ Then, gentlemen,” said the wounded stranger, 
lising, and resuming his clothes, “it will be unne- 
cessary for me to trespass longer on your time 
and patience. There remains but one thing more 
to be settled, and that is, our respective rights to 
the deer, Judge Temple.” • 

“ I acknowledge it to be thine,” said Marma- 
duke ; “ and much more deeply am I indebted to 
thee, than for this piece of venison. But in the 
morning thou wilt call here, and we can adjust 
this, as well as more important matters. Eliza- 
beth,” — for the young lady being apprised that 
the wound was dressed, had re-entered the hall,— 
“ thou wilt order a repast for this youth before 
we proceed to the church ; and Aggy will have a 
sleigh prepared, to convey him to his friend.” 

“ But, sir, I cannot go without a part of the 
deer,” returned the youth, seemingly struggling 
with his own feelings ; “ I have already told you, 
that I needed the venison for myself.” 

“ Oh ! we will not be particular,” exclaimed Ri 
chard ; “ the Judge will pay you, in the morning, 
for the whole deer ; and, Remarkable, give the 
lad all the animal excepting the saddle ; so, on the 
whole, I think, you may consider yourself as a 
very lucky young man ; — you have been shot, 
without being disabled ; have had the wound dress- 
ed in the best possible manner, here in the woods, 
as (veil as it would have been done in the Phila- 
10 * 


114 


THE PIONEERS. 


delphia hospital, if not better ; have sold your deer 
at a high price, and yet can keep most of the car- 
cass, with the skin in the bargain. ’Marky, tell 
Tom to give him the skin too ; and in the morning, 
bring the skin to me, and I will give you half-a- 
dollar for it, or at least, three-and-six-pence. I 
want just such a skin to cover the pillion that I 
am making for cousin Bess.” 

“ I thank you, sir, for your liberality, and, I 
trust, am also thankful for my escape,” returned 
the stranger ; “ but you reserve the very part of 
the animal that I wished for my own use. I must 
have the saddle myself.” 

• “ Must !” echoed Richard ; “ must is harder to 
be swallowed than the horns of the buck.” 

“ Yes, must,” repeated the youth : when, turn- 
ing his head proudly around him, as if to see who 
would dare to controvert his rights, he met the as- 
tonished gaze of Elizabeth, and proceeded more 
mildly — “ that is, if a man is allowed the posses- 
sion of that which his hand hath killed, and the 
law will protect him in the enjoyment of his own " 

“ The law will do so,” said Judge Temple, with 
an air of mortification, mingled with surprise. 
Benjamin, see that the whole deer is placed in the 
sleigh ; and have this youth conveyed to the hut 
of Leather-stocking. But, young man, thou hast 
a name, and I shall see you again, in order to com- 
pensate thee for the wrong I have done thee ?” 

“ I am called Edwards,” returned the hunter, 
“ Oliver Edwards. I am easily to be seen, sir, for 
I live nigh by, and am not afraid to show my 
face, having never injured any man.” 

“ It is we who have injured you, sir,” said 
Elizabeth ; “ and the knowledge that you decline 
our assistance would give my father great pain 
He would gladly see you in the morning.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


115 


The young hunter gazed at the fair speaker, 
until his earnest look brought the blood to her very 
temples ; when, recollecting himself, he bent his 
head, dropping his eyes to the carpet, and re- 
plied — 

“ In the morning, then, will I return, and see 
Judgj? Temple ; and I will accept his offer of the 
sleigh, in token of our amity.” 

u Amity !” repeated Marmaduke , “ there was 
no malice in the act that injured thee, young man ; 
there should be none in the feelings which it may 
engender.” 

“ Forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those 
who trespass against us,” observed Mr. Grant, u is 
the language of prayer, used by our Divine Master 
himself, and it should be the golden rule of us, his 
humble followers.” 

The stranger stood a moment, lost in thought, 
and then glancing his dark eyes, rather wildly, 
around the hall, he bowed low to the divine, and 
moved from the apartment, with an air that would 
not admit of detention. 

“ ’Tis strange that one so young should harbour 
such feelings of resentment,” said Marmaduke, 
when the door closed behind the stranger ; “ but 
while the pain is recent, and the sense of the inju- 
ry is so fresh, he must feel more strongly than in 
his cooler moments. I doubt not, we shall see 
him, in the morning more tractable.” 

Elizabeth, to whom this speech was addressed, 
did not reply, but moved slowly up the hall, by 
herself, fixing her eyes on the little figure of the 
English ingrained carpet, that covered the floor 
while, on the other hand, Richard gave a loua 
crack with his whip, as the stranger disappeared, 
and cried — 

u Well, ’duke, you are your own master, but I 


116 


THE PIONEERS. 


would have tried law for the saddle, before I would 
have given it to the fellow. Do you not own the 
mountains, as well as the valleys ? are not the 
woods your own? what right has this chap, or the 
Leather-stocking, to shoot in your woods, without 
your permission ? Now, I have known a farmer, 
in Pennsylvania, order a sportsman off his^farm, 
with as little ceremony as I would order Benjamin 
to put a log in the stove. By the by, Benjamin, 
see how the thermometer stands. Now, if a man 
has a right to do this on a farm of a hundred acres, 
what power must a landlord have, who owns sixty 
thousand — ay ! for the matter of that, including the 
late purchases, a hundred thousand ? There is 
Mohegan, to be sure, he may have some right, be- 
ing a native ; but it’s little the poor fellow can do 
now with his rifle. How is this managed in France, 
Monsieur Le Quoi ? do you let every body run 
over your land, in that country, helter-skelter, as 
they do here, shooting the game, so that a gentle- 
man has but little or no chance with his gun ?” 

“ Bah ! diable, no, Meester Deeck;” replied the 
Frenchman ; M we give, in France, no liberty, ex- 
cept to de ladi.” 

“Yes, yes, to the women, I know,” said Ri- 
chard ; “ that is your Salick law. I read, sir, all 
kinds of books ; of France, as well as England ; of 
Greece, as well as Rome. But if I were in ’duke’s 
place, I would stick up advertisements to-morrow 
morning, forbiding all persons to shoot, or trespass, 
in any manner, on my woods. I could write such 
an advertisement myself, in an hour, as would pul 
a stop to the thing at once.” 

“ Richart,” said Major Hartmann, very coolly, 
knocking the ashes from his pipe into the spitting- 
box, by his side, “ now listen ; I have livet seven- 
ty-five years on ter Mohawk, and in ter woots.— 


THE PIONEERS. 


117 


Fou hat petter mettle as mit ter deyvel, as mit ter 
hunters. Tey live mit ter gun, and a rifle is pet- 
ter as ter law.” 

u A’nt Marmaduke a Judge?” said Richard, in- 
dignantly. a Where is the use of being a Judge, 
or having a Judge, if there is no law ? Damn the 
fellow f I have a great mind to sue him in the 
morning myself, before Squire Doolittle, for med- 
dling with my leaders. 1 am not afraid of his rifle. 
I can shoot too. I have hit a dollar, many a time, 
at fifty rods.” 

“ Thou hast missed more dollars than ever thou 
hast hit, Dickon,” exclaimed the cheerful voice of 
the Judge again. — a But we will now take our 
evening’s repast, which, I perceive by Remarka- 
ble’s physiognomy, is in the next room. Monsieur 
Le Quoi, Miss Temple has a fair hand at your ser- 
vice. Will you lead the way, my child ?” 

u Ah ! mji chere Mam’selle, but too happy to do 
so,” said the polite Frenchman, while he offered 
his hand ; u it is de consolashong, in my baneesh 
to meet a smile from de fair ladi.” 

Mr. Grant and Mohegan continued in the hall, 
while the remainder of the party withdrew to an 
eating parlour, if we except Benjamin, who civilly 
remained,- to close the rear after the divine, and to 
open the front door for the exit of the Indian. 

u John,” said the divine, when the figure of 
Judge Temple disappeared, the last of the group, 
“ to-morrow is the festival of the nativity of our 
blessed Redeemer, when the church has appointed 
prayers and thanksgivings, to be offered up by her 
children, and when all are invited to partake of 
the mystical elements. As you have taken up the 
cross, and become a follower of good, and an es- 
ehewer of evil, John, I trust I shall see you before 
the altar, with a contrite heart and a meek spiiit.” 


118 


THE PIONEERS. 


u John will come,” said the Indian, betraying n* 
surprise ; though he did not understand all the 
terms used by the other. 

“ Yes,” continued Mr. Grant, laying his hand 
gently on the tawny shoulder of the aged chiet, 
“ but it is not enough to be there in the body only ; 
you must come in the spirit, and in truth. The 
Redeemer died for all, for the poor Indian, as well 
as for the white man. Heaven knows no differ- 
ence in colour ; nor must earth witness a separa- 
tion of the church. It is good and profitable, John, 
to freshen the understanding, and support the wa- 
vering, by the observance of our holy festivals ; 
but all form is but stench in the nostrils of the Holy 
One, unless it be accompanied by a devout and 
humble spirit.” 

The Indian stepped back a little, and, raising 
his body to its utmost powers of erection, he 
stretched his right arm on high, and droppecf his 
fore-finger downward, as if pointing from the hea- 
vens, and striking his other hand on his naked 
breast, he said, with energy — 

“ The eye of the Great Spirit can see from the 
clouds ; — the bosom of Mohegan is bare !” 

u It is well, John, and I hope you will receive 
profit and consolation from the performance of this 
duty. The Great Spirit overlooks none of his 
children ; and the man of the woods is as much an 
object of his care, as he who dwells in a palace. I 
wish you a good night, and pray God to bless you,” 
The Indian bent his head, and they separated— 
the one to seek his hut, and the other to join the 
party at the supper-table. While Benjamin was 
opening the door for the passage of the chief, he 
cried, in a tone that was meant to be quite con- 
soling — 

“ The parson says the word that is true, John, 


THE PIONEERS. 


119 


if-so-oe that they took count of the colour of a skin 
in heaven, why, they might refuse to muster on 
their books a Christian-born, like myself, just for 
the matter of a little tan, from cruising in warm la- 
titudes ; though, for the matter of that, this damned 
nor- wester is enough to whiten the skin of a* black- 
amoor. Let the reefs out of your blanket, man, 
or your red hide will hardly weather the night, 
without a touch from the frost.” 


CHAPTER VIII. 


for here the exile met from every clime, 

And spoke, in inendship, every distant tongue 

Campbell. 


We have made our readers acquainted with some 
variety in character and nations, in introducing the 
most important personages of this legend to their 
notice : but, in order to establish the fidelity of our 
narrative, we will briefly attempt to explain the 
“ why and wherefore” of so motley a dramatis per- 
sonae. 

Europe, was, at the period of our tale, in the 
commencement of that mighty commotion 1 which 
afterward shook her political institutions to their 
centre. Louis the Sixteenth had been beheaded, 
and a nation, once esteemed the most refined 
among the civilized people of the world, was 
changing her character, and substituting cruelty 
for mercy, and subtlety and ferocity for magnani- 
mity and courage. Thousands of F renchmen were 
compelled to seek protection in distant lands. 
Amopg the crowds who fled from France and her 
islands, to the United States of America, w T as the 
gentleman whom we have already mentioned as 
Monsieur Le Quoi. He had been recommended 
to the favour of Judge Temple, by the head of an 


THE PIONEERS. 


121 


eminent mercantile house in New-York. with 
whom Marmaduke was in habits of intimacy, and 
accustomed to an exchange of good offices. Af 
his first interview with the Frenchman, our Judge 
had discovered him to be a man of breeding, and 
one who had seen much more prosperous days in 
his own country. From certain hints that had es- 
caped him, Monsieur Le Quoi was suspected of 
having been a West-India planter, great numbers 
of whom had fled from St. Domingo and the other 
islands, and were now living in the Union, in a 
state of comparative poverty, and some in absolute 
want. The latter, was not v however, the lot of 
Monsieur Le Quoi. He had but little, he acknow- 
ledged, but that little was enough to furnish, in the 
language of the country, an assortment for a store. 

The knowledge of Marmaduke was eminently 
practical, and there was no part of a settler's life 
with which he was not familiar. Under his direc- 
tion, Monsieur Le Quoi made some purchases, con- 
sisting of a few clothes ; som'e groceries, with a 
good deal of tea and tobacco ; a quantity of iron- 
ware, among which was a large proportion of Bar- 
low’s jack-knives, potash-kettles, and spiders; a 
very formidable collection of crockery, of the 
coarsest quality, and most uncouth forms; togethei 
with every other common article that the art of 
man has devised for his wants, not forgetting the 
luxuries of looking-glasses and Jew’s-harps. With 
this collection of valuables, Monsieur Le Quoi had 
stepped behind a counter, and, with a wonderfu! 
pliability of temperament, had dropped into his as- 
sumed character as gracefully as he had ever mov- 
ed in any other. The gentleness and suavity of 
his manners rendered him extremely popular ; be- 
sides this, the women soon discovered that he had 
a taste. His calicoes were the finest, or, in other 
11 


122 


THE PIONEERS. 


words, the most showy, of any that were brought 
into the country ; and it was impossible to look 
at the prices asked for his goods by “ so pretty a 
spoken man.” Through these conjoint means, the 
alfairs of Monsieur Le Quoi were again in a pros- 
perous condition, and he was looked up to by the 
settlers as the second best man on the “ Patent.” 

This term, Patent, which we have already used, 
and for which we may have further occasion, meant 
the district of country that had been originally 
granted to old Major Effingham, by the “ King’s 
letters patent,” and which had now become, by 
purchase under the act of confiscation, the proper- 
ty of Marmaduke Temple. It was a term in com- 
mon use, throughout the new parts of the state, 
and was usually annexed to the landlord’s name, 
as u Temple’s, or Effingham’s Patent.” 

Major Hartmann was the descendant of a man, 
who, in company with a number of his countrymen, 
had migrated, with their families, from the banks 
of the Rhine, to those of the Mohawk. This trans- 
migration had occurred as far back as the reign of 
Queen Anne ; and their descendants were now 
living, in great peace and plenty, on the fertile 
borders of that beautiful stream. 

The Germans or “ High Dutchers,” as they 
were called, to distinguish them from the original, 
or Low Dutch colonists, were a very peculiar peo 
pie. They possessed all the gravity of the latter, 
without any of their phlegm ; and, like them, the 
‘ High Dutchers” were industrious, honest, and 
economical. 

Fritz, or Frederick Hartmann, was an epitome 
of all the vices and virtues, foibles and excellencies 
of his race. He was passionate, though silent, ob- 
stinate, and a good deal suspicious of strangers ; of 
immoveable courage, inflexible honesty, and unde- 


THE PIONEERS. 


123 


viating in his friendships. Indeed, there was no 
change about him, unless it were from grave to 
gay. He was serious by months, and jolly by 
weeks. He had early in their acquaintance, form- 
ed an attachment for Marmaduke Temple, who 
was the only man, that could not talk High Dutch, 
that ever gained his entire confidence. Four times 
in each year, at periods equidistant, he left his low 
stone dwelling, on the banks of the Mohawk, and 
travelled the thirty miles, through the hills, to the 
door of the mansion-house in Templeton. Here 
he generally staid a week, and was reputed to 
spend much of that time in riotous living, counte- 
nanced by Mr. Richard Jones. But every one 
loved him, e*ven to Remarkable Pettibone, to whom 
he occasioned some additional trouble ; he was so 
frank, so sincere, and, at times, so mirthful. He 
was now in his regular Christmas visit, and had 
not been in the village an hour, when Richard 
summoned him to fill a seat in the sleigh, to meet 
the landlord and his daughter. 

Before explaining the character and situation of 
Mr. Grant, it will be necessary to recur to times 
far back in the brief history of the settlement. 

There seems to be a tendency in human nature 
to endeavour to provide for the wants of this world, 
before our attention is turned to the business of 
the other. Religion was a quality but little culti- 
vated amid the stumps of Temple’s Patent, for the 
first few years of its settlement ; but, as most of its 
inhabitants were from the moral states of Connec- 
ticut and Massachusetts, when the wants of nature 
were satisfied, they began seriously to turn their 
attention to the introduction* of those customs and 
observances, which had been the principal care of 
their forefathers. There was certainly a great va- 
riety of opinions on the subject of grace and free- 


124 


THE PIONEERS. 


will among the tenantry of Marmaduke ; and, when 
we take into consideration the variety of the reli- 
gious instruction which they received, it can easily 
be seen, that it could not well be otherwise. 

Soon after the village had been formally laid out 
into the streets and blocks that resembled a city, 
a meeting of its inhabitants had been convened, to 
take into consideration the propriety of establish- 
ing an Academy ! This measure originated with 
Richard, who, in truth, was much disposed to have 
the institution designated a University, or at least 
a College. Meeting after meeting was held, for 
this purpose, year after year. The resolutions of 
these assemblages appeared in the most conspicu- 
ous columns of a little, blue looking* newspaper, 
that was already issued weekly from the garret of 
a dwelling-house in the village, and which the tra- 
veller might as often see stuck into the fissure of 
a stake that had been erected, at the point where 
the footpath from the log cabin of some settler en- 
tered the highway, as a post-office for an individu- 
al. Sometimes the stake supported a small box, 
and a whole neighbourhood received a weekly sup- 
ply, for their literary wants, at this point, where 
the man who u rides post” regularly deposited a 
bundle of the precious commodity. To these flou- 
rishing resolutions, which briefly recounted the ge- 
neral utility of education, the political and geogra- 
phical rights of the village of Templeton to a partici- 
pation in the favours of the regents of the univer- 
sity, and the salubrity of the air, and wdiolesome- 
ness of the water, together with the cheapness of 
food, and the superior state of morals in the neigh- 
bourhood, were uniformly annexed, in large Roman 
capitals, the names of Marmaduke Temple, as chair- 
man, and Richard Jones, as secretary. 

Happily for the success of this undertaking, th 


THE PIONEERS 


125 


regents were not accustomed to resist these ap- 
peals to their generosity, whenever there was the 
prospect of a donation to second the request. 
Eventually Judge Temple concluded to bestow the 
necessary land, and to erect the required edifice 
chiefly at his own expense. The skill of Mr., or, 
as he was now called, from the circumstance of his 
having received the commission of a justice of the 
peace, Squire Doolittle, was again put in requisi- 
tion, and the science of Mr. Jones was once more 
resorted to. 

We shall not recount the different devices of 
these architects on the occasion ; nor would it be de- 
corous so to do, seeing that there was a convocation 
of the society of the ancient and honourable frater- 
nity “ of the free and accepted masons,” at the 
head of whom was Richard, in the capacity of mas- 
ter, doubtless to approve or reject such of the 
plans as, in their wisdom, they deemed to be for 
the best. The knotty point was, however, soon 
decided ; and, on the appointed day, the brother- 
hood marched, in great state, displaying sundry 
banners and mysterious symbols, each man with a 
little mimic apron before him, from a most cunning- 
ly contrived apartment in the garret of the “ Bold 
Dragoon,” an inn kept by one Captain Hollister, 
to the site of the intended edifice. Here Richard 
laid the corner-stone, with great state, amidst an 
assemblage of more than half the men, and all the 
women, within ten miles of Templeton. 

In the course of the succeeding week, there was 
another meeting of the people* not omitting swarms 
of the gentler sex, when the abilities of Hiram, at 
the u square rule,” were put to the test of expe- 
riment. The frame fitted well ; and the skeleton 
of the fabric was reared without a single accident, 
'f we except a few falls from horses, while the la- 

n * 


126 


THE PIONEERS. 


bourers were returning home in the dusk of the 
evening. From this time, the work advanced with 
great rapidity, and in the course of the season the 
labour was completed ; the edifice standing, in all 
its beauty and proportions, the boast of the village, 
the study of the young aspirants for architectural 
fame, and the admiration of every settler on the 
Patent. 

It was a long, narrow house, of wood, painted 
white, and more than half windows; and when 
the observer stood at the western side of the build- 
ing, the edifice offered but a small obstacle to a full 
view of the rising sun. It was, in truth, but a very 
comfortless, open place, through which the day- 
light shone with prodigious facility. On its front 
were divers ornaments, in wood, designed by Ri- 
chard, and executed by Hiram ; but a window in 
the centre of the second story, immediately over 
the door, or grand entrance, and the cc steeple,” 
were the pride of the building. The former was, 
we believe, of the composite order, for it included 
in its composition a multitude of ornaments, and a 
great variety in figure. It consisted of an arched 
compartment in the centre, with a square, and 
smaller division on either side, the whole encased 
in heavy frames, deeply and laboriously moulded 
in pine wood, and lighted with a vast number of 
blurred and green-looking glass, of those dimen- 
sions which are commonly called “ eight by ten.” 
Blinds, that were intended to be painted green, 
kept the window in a state of preservation, and 
probably might have . contributed to the effect of 
the whole, had not the failure in the public funds, 
which seems always to be incidental to any under- 
taking of this kind, left them in the sombre coat 
of lead colour with which they had been originally 
clothed. The u steeple” was a little cupola, rear- 


the pioneers. 


\2h 


ed on the very centre of the roof, on four tall pil- 
lars of pine, that were fluted with a gouge, and 
loaded with mouldings. On the tops of the columns 
was reared a dome, or cupola, resembling in shape 
an inverted tea-cup without its bottom, from the 
centre of which projected a spire, or shaft of wood, 
transfixed with two iron rods, that bore on their 
ends the letters N. S. E. and W., in the same 
metal. The whole was surmounted by an imitation 
of one of the finny tribe, carved in wood, by the 
hands of Richard, and painted, what he called, a 
“ scale-colour.” This animal Mr. Jones affirmed 
to be an admirable resemblance of a great favourite 
of the epicures in that country, which bore the title 
of “ lake-fish and doubtless the assertion was 
true ; for, although intended to answer the pur- 
poses of a weathercock, the fish was observed in- 
variably to look, with a longing eye, in the direc- 
tion of the beautiful sheet of water that lay imbed- 
ded in the mountains of Templeton. 

For a short time after the charter of the regents 
was received, the trustees of this institution em- 
ployed a graduate of one of the eastern colleges, 
to instruct such youth as aspired to knowledge, 
within the walls of the edifice which we have de- 
scribed. The upper part of the building was in 
one apartment, and was intended for gala-days and 
exhibitions; and the lower contained two, that 
were intended for the great divisions of education, 
viz. the Latin and the English scholars. The 
former were never very numerous ; though the 
sounds of “ nominative, pennaa; genitive, penny” 
were soon heard to issue from the windows of the 
room, to the great delight and manifest edification 
of the passenger. 

Onlv one labourer in this temple of Minerva, 
however, was knowi to get so far as to attempt a 


128 


the pioneers. 


translation of Virgil. He, indeed, appeared at the 
annual exhibition, to the prodigious exultation ol 
all his relatives, a farmer’s family in the vicinity, 
and repeated the whole of the first eclogue from 
memory, observing the intonations of the dialogue 
with much judgment and effect. The sounds, as 
they proceeded from his mouth, of 

•“ Titty -ree too patty -lee ree-coo-bans sub teg-mi-nee faa-gy 

Syl-ves-trem ten-oo-i moo-sam med-i-taa-ris aa-ve-ny” — 

were the last that had been heard in that building, 
as probably they were the first that had ever been 
heard, in the same language, there or any where 
else. For by this time the trustees had discovered 
that they had anticipated the age, and the instruc- 
ter , or principal , was superseded by a master , who 
went on to teach the more humble lesson of “ the 
more haste the worse speed,” in good, plain En- 
glish. 

From this time, until the date of our incidents, 
the Academy was a commo’n country school ; and 
the great room of the building was sometimes used 
as a court-room, on extraordinary trials; some- 
times for conferences of the religious, and the mo- 
rally disposed in the evening ; at others for a ball, 
in the afternoon, given under the auspices of Ri- 
chard ; and on Sundays, invariably, as a place of 
public worship. 

When an itinerant priest, of the persuasion of 
the Methodists, Baptists, Universalists, or of the 
more numerous sect of the Presbyterians, was ac- 
cidentally in the neighbourhood, he was ordinarily 
invited to officiate, and was commonly rewarded 
or his services by a collection in a hat, before the 
congregation separated. When no such regular 
minister offered, a kind of colloquial prayer or two 
was made by some of the more gifted members. 


THE PIONEERS. 


129 


and a sermon was usually read, from Sterne, by 
Mr. Richard Jones. 

The consequence of this desultory kind r* priest* 
hood was, as we have already intimated, a great 
diversity in opinion, on the more abstruse points of 
our faith. Each sect had its adherents, though 
neither was regularly organized and disciplined. 
Of the religious education of Marmaduke, we have 
already written, nor was the doubtful character of 
his faith completely removed by his marriage. The 
mother of Elizabeth was an Episcopalian, as, indeed, 
was the mother of the Judge himself; and the good 
taste of Marmaduke revolted at the familiar collo- 
quies which the leaders of the conferences held 
with the Deity, in their nightly meetings. Inform, 
he was certainly an Episcopalian, though not a 
sectary of that denomination. On the other hand, 
Richard was as rigid in the observance of the ca- 
nons of his church as he was inflexible in his opi 
nions. Indeed, he had once or twice essayed to 
introduce the Episcopal form of service, on the 
Sundays that their pulpit was vacant ; but Richard 
was a good deal addicted to carrying all things to 
an excess, and then there was something so papal 
in his air, that the greater part of his hearers de- 
serted him on the second Sabbath — on the third, 
his only auditor was Ben Pump ! 

Before the war of the revolution, the English 
church was supported, in their colonies, with much 
interest, by some of its adherents, in the mother 
country, and a few of the congregations were ver; 
amply endowed. But, for a season, after the in 
dependence of the states was established, this sect 
of Christians languished, for the want of the high- 
est order of its priesthood. Pious and suitable 
divines were at length selected, and sent to the 
mother country, to receive that authority, which. 


130 


THE PIONEERS. 


it is understood, can only be transmitted directly 
from one to the other, and thus obtain, in order to 
preserve, that unity in their churches, which, pro- 
perly belonged to a people of the same nation. 
But unexpected difficulties presented themselves, 
in the oaths with which the policy of England had 
fettered their establishment ; and much time was 
spent, before a conscientious sense of duty would 
permit the prelates of Britain to delegate the au- 
thority which was so earnestly sought. Time, 
patience, and zeal, however, removed every im- 
pediment ; and the venerable men, who had been 
set apart by the American churches, at length 
returned to their expecting diocesses, endowed 
with the most elevated functions of their earthly 
church. Priests and deacons were ordained ; and 
missionaries provided, to keep alive the expiring 
flame of devotion in such members as were depriv- 
ed of the ordinary ministrations, by dwelling in 
new and unorganized districts. 

Of this number was Mr. Grant. He had been 
sent into the county of which Templeton was the 
capital, and had been kindly invited by Marma- 
duke, and officiously pressed by Richard, to take 
up his abode in the village itself. A small and 
humble dwelling was prepared for his family, and 
the divine had made his appearance in the place 
but a few days previously to the time of his intro- 
duction to the reader. As his forms were entirely 
new to most of the inhabitants, and a clergyman of 
another denomination had previously occupied the 
field, by engaging the academy, the first Sunday 
after his arrival was suffered to pass in silence , 
but now that his rival had passed on, like a me- 
teor, filling the air with the light of his wisdom, 
Richard was empowered to give notice, that “ Pub- 
lic worship, after the forms of the Protestant Epis- 


THE PIONEERS. 


131 


copal Church, would be held, on the night before 
Christmas, in the long-room of the academy in 
Templeton, by the Rev. Mr. Grant ” 

This annunciation excited great commotion 
among the sectaries to whom it was made. Some 
wondered as to the nature of the exhibition ; 
others sneered ; but a far greater part, recollecting 
the essays of Richard in that way, and mindful of 
the liberality, or rather laxity, of Marmaduke’s 
notions on the subject of sectarianism, thought i! 
most prudent to be silent. 

The expected evening was, however, the won 
der of the hour ; nor was the curiosity at all dimi- 
nished, when Richard and Benjamin, on the morn- 
ing of the eventful day, were seen to issue from 
the woods in the neighbourhood of the village; 
each bearing on his shoulders a large bunch of 
evergreens. This worthy pair was observed to 
enter the academy, and carefully to fasten the door, 
after which their proceedings remained a profound 
secret to the rest of the village ; Mr. Jones, before 
he commenced this mysterious business, , having 
informed the schoolmaster, to the great delight of 
the white-headed flock he governed, that there 
could be no school that day. Marmaduke was 
apprised of all these preparations, by letter, and it 
was especially arranged, that he and Elizabeth 
should arrive in season, to participate in the so 
lemnities of the evening. 

After this digression, we shall return to our nar 
ratine. 


CHAPTER IX. 


Now all admire, in each high-flavour’d dish 
The capabilities of flesh — fowl — fish ; 

In order due each guest assumes his station 
Throbs high his breast with fond anticipation, 

And prelibates the joys of mastication. v 

Heliogabaliad 

The apartment to which Monsieur Le Quoi 
handed Elizabeth, communicated with the hall, 
through the door, that led under the urn which was 
supposed to contain the ashes of Dido. The room 
was spacious, and of very just proportions; but in 
its ornaments and furniture, the same diversity of 
taste, and imperfection of execution, were to be 
observed, as existed in the hall. Of furniture, 
there were a dozen green, wooden arm-chairs, 
with cushions of moreen, taken from the same 
piece as the petticoat of Remarkable. The tables 
were spread, and their materials and workmanship 
could not be seen ; but they were heavy, and of 
great size. There was an enormous glass, in a 
gilt frame, hung against the wall, and a cheerful 
fire, of the hard or sugar-maple, burning on the 
hearth. The latter was the first object that struck 
the attention of the Judge, who, on beholding it, 
exclaimed, rather angrily, to Richard — 

“ How often have 1 forbidden the use of the 
sugar-maple for fires, in my dwelling. The sight 
of that sap, as it exudes with the heat from the 


THE PIONEERS 


123 


ends of those logs, is painful to me, Richard. 
Really, it behoves the owner of woods so extern 
sive as mine, to be cautious what example he sets 
to his people, who are already felling the forests, 
as if no end could be found to their treasures, nor 
any limits to their extent. If we go on in this 
way, twenty years hence we shall want fuel.” 

“ Fuel in these hills, cousin ’duke !” exclaimed 
Richard in derision — “ fuel for our fires ! why, you 
might as well predict, that the fish will die, for the 
want of water in the lake, because I intend, when 
the frost gets out of the ground, to lead one or two 
of the springs, through logs, into the village. But 
you are always a little wild on such subjects, Mar- 
mad uke.” 

“ Is it wildness,” returned the Judge, earnestly, 
“ to condemn a practice, which devotes these jew- 
els of the forest, these precious gifts of nature, 
these mines of comfort and wealth, to the common 
uses of a fire-place ? But I must, and will, the in- 
stant that the snow is off the earth, send out a 
party into the mountains to explore for coal.” 

“ Coal !” echoed Richard ; “ who the devil do 
you think will dig for coal, when in hunting for a 
bushel, he would have to rip up more roots of 
trees, than would keep hint in fuel for a twelve- 
month ? Poh ! poh ! Marmaduke, you should 
leave the management of these things to me, who 
have a natural turn that way. It was I that order- 
ed this fire, and a noble one it is, to warm the blood 
in the veins of my pretty cousin Bess.” 

“ The motive, then, must be your apology, Dick- 
on,” said the Judge. — “ But, gentlemen, we are 
waiting. Elizabeth, my child, take the head of 
the table ; Richard, I see, means to spare me the 
trouble of carving, by sitting opposite to you.” 

“ To be sure I do,” cried Richard ; “ here is a 

12 


134 


THE PIONEER!) • 


turkey to carve ; and I flatter myself that I under- 
stand carving a turkey, or, for that matter, a goose, 
as well as any man alive. Mr. Grant ! where’s 
Mr. Grant ? w T ill you please to say grace, sir ? 
Every thing is getting cold. Take a thing from 
the fire, this cold weather, and it will freeze in 
five minutes. Mr. Grant ! we want you to say 
grace. c For what we are about to receive, the 
Lord make us thankful.’ Come, sit down, sit 
down. Do you eat wing or breast, cousin Bess.” 

But Elizabeth had not taken her seat, nor was 
she in readiness to receive either the wing or 
breast. Her laughing, dark eyes, were glancing 
at the arrangements of the table, and the quality 
and selection of the food. The eyes of her father 
soon met the wondering looks of his daughter, and 
he said, with a smile — 

u You perceive, my child, how much we are in- 
debted to Remarkable, for her skill in housewife- 
ry ; she has indeed provided a noble repast ; such 
as well might stop the cravings of hunger.” 

“ Law !” said Remarkable, “ I’m glad if the 
Judge is pleased ; but I’m notional that you’ll find 
the sa’ce overdone. I thought, as Elizabeth was 
coming home, that a body could do no less than 
make things agreeable.” 

“ My daughter has now grown to woman’s estate, 
and is from this moment mistress of my house,” 
said the Judge, sternly ; u it is proper that all, who 
live with me, address her as Miss Temple.” 

“ Do tell !” exclaimed Remarkable, a little 
aghast ; “ well, who ever heerd of a young wo- 
man’s being called Miss ? If the Judge had a wife 
now, I should’nt think of jailing her any thing but 
Miss Temple ; but — — ” 

“ Having nothing but a daughter, you will oh- 


THE PIONEERS. 


136 

serve that style to her, if you please, in future,” 
interrupted Marmaduke. 

As the Judge looked seriously displeased, and, 
at such moments, carried a particularly command- 
ing air with him, the wary housekeeper made no 
reply ; and, Mr. Grant entering the room, the 
whole party were soon seated at the table. As 
the arrangements of this repast were much in the 
prevailing taste of that period and country, we 
shall endeavour to give a short description of the 
appearance of the banquet. 

The table-linen was of the most beautiful da- 
mask, and the plates and dishes of real china, an 
article of great luxury at this early period in Ame- 
rican commerce. The knives and forks were of 
exquisitely polished steel, and were set in uncloud- 
ed ivory. So much, being furnished by the wealth 
of Marmaduke, was not only comfortable, but even 
elegant. The contents of the several dishes, and 
their positions, however, were the result of the 
sole judgment of Remarkable. Before Elizabeth, 
was placed an enormous roasted turkey, and be- 
fore Richard, one boiled. In the centre of the ta- 
ble, stood a pair of heavy silver castors, surround- 
ed by four dishes ; one a fricassee, that consisted of 
gray squirrels ; another of fish fried ; a third of 
fish boiled ; the last was a venison steak. Be- 
tween these dishes and the turkeys, stood, on the 
one side, a prodigious chine of roasted bear’s meat, 
and on the other a boiled leg of delicious mutton, 
Interspersed among this load of meacs, was every 
species of vegetables that the season and country 
afforded. The four corners were garnished with 
plates of cake. On one was piled certain curious- 
ly twisted and complicated figures, called u nut- 
cakes.” On another were heaps of a black-look- 
ing substance, which, receiving its hue from mo- 


13G 


THE PIONEERS. 


lasses, was properly termed “ sweet-cake a 
wonderful favourite in the coterie of Remarkable. 
A third was filled, to use the language of the house- 
keeper, with u cards of gingerbread ;” and the last 
held a u plum-cake,” so called from the number of 
large raisins that were showing their black heads, 
in a substance of a wonderfully similar colour. 
At each corner of the table stood saucers, filled 
with a thick fluid, of somewhat equivocal colour 
and consistence, variegated with small dark lumps 
of a substance that resembled nothing but itself, 
which Remarkable termed her “ sweet-meats.” 
At the side of each plate, which was placed bot- 
tom upwards, with its knife and fork most accu- 
rately crossed above it, stood another, of smaller 
size, containing a motley-looking pie, composed of 
triangular slices of apple, mince, pumpkin, cran- 
berry, and custard , so arranged as to form an en- 
tire whole. Decanters of brandy, rum, gin, and 
wine, with sundry pitchers of cider, beer, and one 
hissing vessel of “ flip,” were put wherever an 
opening would admit of their introduction. Not- 
withstanding the size of the tables, there was 
scarcely a spot where the rich damask could be 
seen, so crowded were the dishes, and their asso- 
ciated bottles, plates, and saucers. The object 
seemed to be profusion, and it was obtained en- 
tirely at the expense of order and elegance. 

All the guests, as well as the Judge himself, 
seemed perfectly familiar with this description of 
fare, for each one commenced eating, with an ap- 
petite that promised to do great honour to Re- 
markable’s taste and skill. What rendered this 
attention to the repast a little surprising, was the 
fact, that both the German and Richard had been 
summoned from another table, to meet the judge *, 
but Major Hartmann both ate and drank without 


THE PIONEERS. 


IT} 

any rule, ,vhen on his excursions ; and Mr. Jones 
invariably made it a point to participate in the bu- 
siness in hand, let it be what it would. The host 
seemed to think some apology necessary for the 
warmth he had betrayed on the subject of the fire- 
wood, and when the party were comfortably seat- 
ed, and engaged with their knives and forks, he 
observed — 

“ The wastefulness of the settlers, with the no- 
ble trees of this country, is shocking, Monsieur Le 
Quoi, as doubtless you have noticed. I have seen 
a man fell a pine, when he has been in want of 
fencing-stuff, and roll its first cuts into the gap, 
where he left it to rot, though its top would have 
made rails enough to answer his purpose, and its 
but would have sold in the Philadelphia market 
for twenty dollars.” 

“And how the. devil — I beg your pardon, Mr. 
Grant,” interrupted Richard ; “ but how is the 
poor devil to get his logs to the Philadelphia mar- 
ket, pray ? put them in his pocket, ha ! as you 
would a handful of chestnuts, or a bunch of chicker- 
berries? I should like to see you walking up 
High-street, with a pine log in each pocket ! — 
Poh ! poh ! cousin ’duke, there are trees enough 
for us all, and some to spare. Why, I can hardly 
tell which way the wind blows, when Pm out in 
the clearings, they are so thick, and so tall ; — 1 
couldn’t at all, if it was’nt for the clouds, and l 
happen to know all the points of the compass, as 
it were, by heart.” 

u Ay ! ay ! Squire,” cried Benjamin, who had 
now entered, and taken his place behind the 
Judge’s chair, a little aside withal, in order to be 
r eady for any observation like the present ; “ look 
aloft, sir, look aloft. The old seamen say, c that 
the devil wouldn’t make a sailor, unless he look’d 
\2 * 


138 


THE PIONEERS. 


aloft.’ As for the compass, why, there is no such 
thing as steering without one. I’m sure I never 
lose sight of the main-top, as I call the Squire’s 
look-out, but I set my compass, d’ye see, and take 
the bearings and distance of things, in order to 
work out my course, if-so-be that it should cloud 
up, or the tops of the trees should shut out the 
light of heaven. The steeple of St. Paul's, now 
that we have got it on end, is a great help to the 
navigation of the woods, for, by the lord Harry, as 
I was” — 

“ It is well, Benjamin,” interrupted Marmaduke, 
observing his daughter, who manifested evident 
displeasure at the major-domo’s familiarity; u but 
you forget there is a lady in company, and the wo 
men love to do most of the talking themselves.” 

“ The Judge says the true word,” cried Benja 
min, with one of his discordant laughs : “ now here 
is Mistress Remarkable Prettybones ; just take the 
stopper off her tongue, and you’ll hear a gabbling, 
worse like than if you should happen to fall to lee- 
ward, in crossing a French privateer, or some such 
thing, mayhap, as a dozen monkeys stowed in one 
bag.” 

It were impossible to say, how perfect an illus- 
tration of the truth of Benjamin’s assertion the 
housekeeper would have furnished, if she dare ; 
but the Judge looked sternly at her, and, unwill- 
ing to incur his resentment, yet unable to contain 
her anger, she threw herself out of the room, with 
a toss of her body, that nearly separated her frail 
form in the centre. 

u Richard,” said Marmaduke, observing that his 
lispleasure had produced the desired effect, “ can 
you inform me of any thing concerning the youth, 
whom I so unfortunately wounded ? I found him 
m the mountain, hunting in company with the 


THE PIONEERS. 


139 


Leather-stocking, as if they were of the same fami- 
ly ; but there is a manifest difference in their man- 
ners. The youth delivers himself in chosen lan- 
guage ; such as is seldom heard' in these hills, and 
such as occasions great surprise to me, how one so 
meanly clad, and following so lowly a pursuit, could 
attain. Mohegan also knew him. Doubtless he 
is a tenant of Natty’s hut. Did you notice the 
language of the lad, Monsieur Le Quoi ?” 

u Certainement, Monsieur Tempi’,” returned 
the Frenchman, “ he deed conevairse in de most 
excellent Anglaise.” 

“ The boy is not a miracle,” exclaimed Richard ', 
• c I’ve known children that were sent to school 
early, talk much better, before they were twelve 
years old. There was Zareed Coe, old Nehemi- 
ah’s son, who first settled on the beaverdam mea- 
dow, he could write almost as good a hand as my- 
self, when he was fourteen ; though it’s true, I 
helped to teach him a little, in the long evenings 
But this shooting gentleman ought to be put in the 
stocks, if he ever takes a rein in his hand again. 
He is the most awkward fellow about a horse I 
ever met with. I dare say, he never drove any 
thing but oxen in his life.” 

“ There I think, Dickon, you do the lad injus- 
tice,” said the Judge ; “he uses much discretion in 
critical moments. — Dost thou not think so, Bess ?” 

There was nothing in this question particularly 
to excite the blushes of a maiden, but Elizabeth 
started from the reverie into which she had fallen, 
and coloured to her forehead, as she answered — 

“ To me, my dear sir, he appeared extremely 
skilful, and prompt, and courageous ; but perhaps 
cousin Richard will say, I am as ignorant as the 
gentleman himself.” 


140 


THE PIONEERS. 

u Gentleman !” echoed Richard ; tc do you call 
such chaps gentlemen, at school, Elizabeth ?” 

u Every man is a gentleman, who knows how to 
treat a woman with respect and consideration,” 
returned the young lady, promptly, and with an air 
of a little dignity. 

M So much for hesitating to appear before the 
heiress in his shirt sleeves,” cried Richard, wink- 
ing at Monsieur Le Quoi, who returned the hint 
with one eye, while he rolled the other, with an 
expression of great sympathy, towards the young 
lady. — “ Well, well, to me he seemed any thing 
but a gentleman. I must say, however, for the 
lad, that he draws a good trigger, and has a true 
aim. He’s good at shooting a buck, ha ! Marma- 
duke ?” 

“ Richart,” said Major Hartmann, turning his 
grave countenance towards the gentleman he ad- 
dressed, with much earnestness, u ter poy is goot. 
He savet your life, and my life, and ter life of To- 
minie Grant, and ter life of ter Frenchman ; and, 
Richart, he shall never vant a pet to sleep in vile 
olt Fritz Hartmann has a shingle to cover his bet 
mit.” 

“ Well, well, as you please, old gentleman,” re- 
turned Mr. Jones, endeavouring to look excessively 
indifferent ; u put him into your own stone house, 
if you will, Major. 1 dare say the lad never slept 
in any thing better than a bark shanty in his life, 
unless it was some such hut as the cabin of Leather- 
stocking. I prophesy you will soon spoil him ; 
any one could see how proud he grew, in a short 
time, just because he stood by my horses’ heads, 
while I turned them into the highway.” 

“ No, no, my old friend,” cried Marmaduke, “ it 
shall be my task, to provide in some manner for 
the youth : I owe him a debt of my own, besides 


THE PIONEERS. 


141 


the service he has done me, through my friends. 
And yet I anticipate some little trouble, in induc- 
ing him to accept of my services. He showed a 
marked dislike, I thought, Bess, to my offer of a 
residence within these walls for life.” 

“ Really, dear sir,” said Elizabeth, projecting 
her beautiful under-lip, cc I have not studied the 
gentleman so closely, as to read his feelings in his 
countenance. I thought he might very naturally 
feel pain from his wound, and therefore pitied him; 
but” — and as she spoke she glanced her eye, with 
a conscious timidity, towards the major-domo — “ I 
dare say, sir, that Benjamin can tell you some- 
thing about him. He cannot have been in the 
village, and Benjamin not have seen him often.” 

Cl Ay ! I have seen the boy before,” said Benja- 
min, who wanted no other encouragement to speak : 
“ he has been backing and filling in the w T ake of 
Natty Bumppo, through the mountains, after deer, 
like a Dutch long-boat in tow of an Albany sloop. 
He carries a good rifle too. The Leather-stock- 
ing said, in my hearing, before Betty Hollister’s 
bar-room fire, no later than the Tuesday night, 
that the younker was certain death to the wild 
beasts. If-so-be he can kill the wild-cat, that has 
been heard moaning on the lake side, since the 
hard frosts and deep snows have driven the deer 
to her, he will be doing the thing that is good. 
Your wild-cat is a bad ship-mate, and should be 
made to cruise out of the track of all Christian 
men.” 

u Lives he in the hut of Bumppo r” asked Mar- 
maduke, with some interest ; and the Jfull black 
eyes of Elizabeth resting intently on the sqorched 
visage of the steward, while she waited his reply. 

“ Cheek by jowl,” said Benjamin ; u the Wednes- 
day will be three weeks since ho first hove in 


142 


THIS PIONEERS. 


Right, in company with Leather-stocking. They 
had captured a wolf between them, and had brought 
in his scalp for the bounty. That Mister Bump-ho 
has a handy turn with him, in taking off a scalp ; 
and there’s them, in this here village, who say he 
larnt the trade by working on Christian men. If- 
so-be that there is truth in the saying, and I com- 
manded along shore here, as your honour does, why, 
d’ye see, I’d bring him to the gangway for it yet. 
There’s a very pretty post rigged alongside of the 
stocks ; and for the matter of a cat, I can fit one 
with my own hands ; ay ! and use it too, for the 
want of a better.” 

“You are not to credit all the idle tales, sir, 
that you hear of Natty,” said the Judge : “he has 
a kind of natural right to gain a livelihood in these 
mountains ; and if the idlers in the village take it 
into their heads to annoy him, as they sometimes 
do reputed rogues, they shall find him protected 
by the strong arm of the law.” 

“ Ter rifle is petter as ter law,” said the Major, 
sententiously. 

“ That for his rifle !” exclaimed Richard, snap- 
ping his fingers ; “ Ben is right, and I” He 

was stopped by the sounds of a common shipbell, 
that had been elevated to the belfry of the acade- 
my, which now announced, by its incessant ring- 
ing, that the hour for the appointed service had 
arrived. “ c For this, and every other instance of 
his goodness’ — I beg pardon, Mr. Grant ; will you 
please to return thanks, sir ? it is time we should 
be moving, as we are the only Episcopalians in the 
neighbourhood ; that is, 1, and Benjamin, and Eli- 
zabeth.” 

The divine arose, and performed* the office 
meekly and fervently, and the whole party instant- 
ly prepared themselves for the church — or rathei 
academy. 


CHAPTER X. 


“ And, calling sinful man to pray, 

Loud, long, and deep the bell had toll’d.” 

Scott's Burghei. 


While Richard and Monsieur Le Quoi, attended 
oy Benjamin, proceeded to the academy, by afoot- 
path that was trodden in the snow, across the 
grounds of the Mansion-house, the Judge, his 
daughter, the Divine, and the Major, took a more 
circuitous route to the same place, through the 
streets of the village. 

The moon had risen, during the time that our 
travellers were housed, and its orb w T as shedding a 
flood of light over the dark outline of pines, which 
crowned the eastern mountain. In other climates, 
the sky would have been thought clear and lucid 
for a noon-tide. The stars twinkled in the hea- 
vens, like the last faint glimmerings of distant fire, 
so much were they obscured by the overwhelming 
radiance of the atmosphere ; the rays from the 
moon striking upon the smooth white surfaces of 
the lake and fields, reflecting upwards a light that 
was brightened by the spotless colour of the im- 
mense bodies of snow, which covered the earth. 

Elizabeth employed herself with reading the 
signs, one of which appeared over almost every 


144 


THE PIONEERS. 


door, while the sleigh moved,* steadily and at an 
easy gait, along the principal street. Not only 
new occupations, but names that were strangers to 
her ears, met her bewildered gaze, at every step 
they proceeded. The very houses seemed chang- 
ed. This had been altered by an addition ; that 
had been painted ; another had been erected on 
the site of an old acquaintance, which had been 
banished from the earth almost as soon as it made 
its appearance on it. All were, however, pouring 
forth their inmates, who uniformly held their way 
towards the point, where the expected exhibition 
of the taste of Richard and Benjamin was to be 
made. 

After viewing the buildings, which really ap- 
peared to some advantage, under the bright but 
mellow light of the moon, our heroine turned her 
eyes to a scrutiny of the different figures that they 
passed, in search of any form that she knew. But 
all seemed alike, as muffled in cloaks, hoods, coats, 
or tippets, they glided along the narrow passages 
in the snow, which led under the houses, half hid 
by the bank that had been thrown up in excavat- 
ing the deep path in which they trod. Once or 
twice she thought there was a stature, or a gait, 
that she recollected, but the person who owned it 
instantly disappeared behind one of those enormous 
piles of wood, that lay before most of the doors. 
It was only as they turned from the main street 
into another that intersected it at right angles, and 
which led directly to the place of meeting, that she 
recognised a face and building that she knew. 

The house stood at one of the principal corners 
in the village, and, by its well-trodden door-way, 
as well as the sign, that was swinging, with a kind 
of doleful sound, in the blasts that occasionally 
swept down the lake, was clearly one of the most 


THE PIONEERS. 


146 


frequented inns ‘in the place. The building was 
only of one story, but the dormant windows in the 
roof, the paint, the window-shutters, and cheerful 
fire that shone through the open door, gave it an 
air of comfort, that was not possessed by many of 
its neighbours. The sign was suspended from a 
common ale-house post, and represented the figure 
of a horseman, armed with sabre and pistols, and 
surmounted by a bear-skin cap, with a fiery animal 
that he bestrode u rampant.” All these particu- 
lars were easily to be seen, by the aid of the moon, 
together with a row of somewhat illegible writing, 
in black paint, but in which Elizabeth, to whom 
the whole was familiar, read with facility u The 
Bold Dragoon.” 

A man and a woman were issuing from the 
door of this habitation, as the sleigh was passing. 
The former moved with a stiff, military step, that 
was a good deal heightened by a limp that he had 
in one leg ; but the woman advanced with a mea- 
sure and an air, that seemed not particularly re- 
gardful of what she might encounter. The light 
of the moon fell directly upon her full, broad, and 
red visage ; exhibiting her masculine countenance, 
under the mockery of a ruffled cap, that was in- 
tended evidently to soften the lineaments of her 
features. A small bonnet of black silk, and of a 
slightly formal cut, was placed on the back of her 
head, but so as not to shade her visage in the least. 
Her face, as it encountered the rays of the moon 
from the east, seemed not unlike a sun rising in the 
west. She advanced, with masculine strides, to 
intercept the sleigh, and the Judge, directing the 
namesajce of the Grecian king, who held the lines, 
to check his horses, the parties were soon near to 
each other. 

“ Good luck to ye, and a wileoine home, Jcoge !” 

13 


146 


THE PIONEERS. 


cried the female, with a strong Irish accent ; “ and 
I'm sure it’s to me that ye’r always wilcome. 
Sure ! and there’s Miss ’Lizzy, and a fine young 
woman is she grown. What a heartach would she 
be giving the young men now, if there was sich a 
thing as a rigiment in the town. Och ! but it’s 
idle to talk of sich vanities, while the bell is call- 
ing us to mateing, jist as we shall be call’d away 
unexpictedly, some day, when we are the laist 
calkilating on it. Good even, Major ; will I make 
the bowl of gin-toddy the night? — or it’s likely 
ye’ll stay at the big house, the Christmas eve, and 
the very night of ye’r getting there ?” 

“ I am glad to see you, Mrs. Hollister,” return- 
ed the voice of Elizabeth. “ I have been trying 
to find a face that I knew, since we left the door 
of the Mansion-house, but none have I seen except 
your own. Your house, too, is unaltered, while 
all the others are so changed, that, but for the 
places where they stand, they would be utter 
strangers. I observe you keep also the dear sign, 
that I saw cousin Richard paint, and even the name 
ai the bottom, about which, you may remember, 
you had the disagreement.” 

u Is it the bould dragoon ye mane ? and what 
name would ye have, who niver was known by any 
other, as my husband here, the Captain, can testify 
to. He was a pleasure to wait upon, and was iver 
the foremost in the hour of need. Och ! but he 
had a sudden ind ! But it’s to be hoped, that he 
was justified by the cause. And it’s not Parson 
Grant there, who’ll gainsay that same. — Yes, yes 
— the Squire would paint, and so I thought that 
we might have his face up there, who had so often 
shared good and evil wid us. The eyes is no so 
large nor so fiery as the Captain’s own, but the 
whiskers and the cap is as like astwopaas. — Well, 


THE PIONEERS. 


147 


well — I’ll not keep ye m the cowld, talking, but 
will drop in, the morrow, after sarvice, and jist ask 
ye how ye do. It’s our bounden duty to make the 
most of this present, and to go to the house which 
is open to all : so God bless ye, and keep ye from 
evil. — Will I make the gin-twist the night, or no, 
Major ?” 

To this question the German replied, very 
sententiously, in the affirmative; and, after a few 
words had passed between the husband of this 
fiery -faced hostess and the Judge, the sleigh moved 
on. It soon reached the door of the academy, 
where the party alighted and entered the build- 
ing. 

In the mean time Mr. Jones and his two compa- 
nions, having a much shorter distance to journey, 
had arrived before the appointed place several 
minutes sooner than the party in the sleigh. In- 
stead of hastening into the room, in order to enjoy 
the astonishment of the settlers, Richard placed 
a hand in either pocket of his surtout, and affected 
to walk about, in front of the academy, with great 
indifference. 

The villagers proceeded uniformly into the build- 
ing, with a decorum and gravity that nothing could 
move, on such occasions ; but with a haste that 
was probably a little heightened by curiosity 
Those who came in from the adjacent country, 
spent some little time in placing certain blue and 
white blankets over their horses, before they pro 
ceeded to indulge their desire to view the interioi 
of the house. Most of these men Richard ap 
proached, and inquired after the health and condi- 
tion of their families. The readiness with which 
he mentioned the names of even the children, 
showed how very familiarly acquainted he was 
with their circumstances ; and the nature of the 


148 


THE PIONEERS. 


answers he received, proved that he was ageneial 
favourite. 

At length one of the pedestrians from the vil- 
lage stopped also, and fixed an earnest gaze at a 
new brick edifice, that was throwing a long shadow 
across the fields of snow, as it rose, with a beauti- 
ful gradation of light and shade, under the rays of 
a full moon. In front of the academy was a vacant 
piece of ground, that was intended for a public 
square. On the side opposite to where stood Mr. 
Jones, the new and as yet unfinished church of 
St. Paul’s was erected. This edifice had been 
reared during the preceding summer, by the aid of 
what was called a subscription ; though all, or 
nearly all, of the money it had cost, came from the 
pocket of the landlord. It had been built under 
the strong conviction of the necessity of a more 
seemly place of worship than u the long room of 
the acaaem.y,” and under an implied agreement, 
that, after its completion, the question should be 
fairly put to the people, that they might decide to 
what denomination it should belong. Of course, 
this expectation kept alive a strong excitement, in 
some few of the sectaries who were interested in 
its decision ; though but little was said openly on 
the subject. Had Judge Temple espoused the 
cause of any particular sect, the question would 
have been immediately put at rest, for his influ- 
ence was too powerful to be opposed ; but he de- 
clined all interference in the matter, positively re- 
fusing to lend even the weight of his name or^the 
side of Richard, who had secretly given an assu- 
rance to his Diocesan, that both the building and 
the congregation would cheerfully come within 
rhe pale of the Protestant Episcopal Church. But 
when the neutrality of the Judge was clearly as' 
certained, Mr. Jones discovered that he had to 


the now :>:ks. 149 

contend with a stiff-necked people. His first mea- 
sure was to go among them, and commence a course 
of reasoning, in order to bring them round to his 
own way of thinking. They all heard him pa- 
tiently, and not a man uttered a word in reply, in 
the way of argument : and Richard thought, by 
the time that he had gone through the settlement, 
the thing was to be conclusively decided in his fa- 
vour. Willing to strike while the iron was hot, he 
called a meeting, through the newspaper, with a 
view to decide the question by a vote, at once. 
Not a soul attended ; and one of the most anxious 
afternoons that he had ever known, was spent by 
Richard in a vain discussion with Mrs. Hollister, 
who strongly contended that the Methodist (her 
own) church was the best entitled to, and most 
deserving of the possession of the new tabernacle. 
Richard now perceived that he had been too san- 
guine, and had fallen into the error of all those w r ho, 
ignorantly, deal with that wary and sagacious peo- 
ple. He assumed a disguise himself, that is, as 
well as he knew how, and proceeded step by step 
to advance his purpose. 

The task of erecting the building had been unani- 
mously transferred to Mr. Jones and Hiram Doo- 
little. Together they had built the mansion-house, 
the academy, and the jail; and they alone knew 
how to plan and rear such a structure as was now 
required. Early in the day, these architects had 
made an equitable division of their duties. T o the 
former was assigned the duty of making all the 
plans, and to the latter, the labour of superintend- 
ing the execution. 

Availing himself of this advantage, Richard si- 
lently determined that the windows should have 
the Roman arch, as the first positive step he would 
fake in effecting his wishes. As the building was 

13 * 


i 50 


THE PIONEERS. 


made of bricks, he was enabled to conceal his de- 
sign, until the moment arrived for placing the 
“frames : then, indeed, it became necessary to act. 
He communicated his wishes to Hiram with great 
caution ; and without in the least adverting to the 
spiritual part of his project, he pressed the point a 
little warmly, on the score of architectural beauty. 
Hiram heard him patiently, and without contradic- 
tion ; but still Richard was unable to discover the 
views of his coadjutor, on this interesting subject. 
As the right to plan was duly delegated to Mr. 
Jones, no direct objection was made in words, but 
numberless unexpected difficulties arose in the 
execution. At first, there was a scarcity in the 
right kind of material necessary to form the frames ; 
but this objection was instantly silenced, by Ri- 
chard running his pencil through two feet of their 
length at one stroke. Then the expense was men- 
tioned ; but Richard reminded Hiram that his 
cousin paid, and that he was his treasurer. This 
last intimation had great weight, and after a silent 
and protracted, but fruitless opposition, the work 
was suffered to proceed on the original plan. 

The next difficulty occurred in the steeple, 
which Richard had modelled after one of the small- 
er of those spires that adorn the great London Ca- 
thedral. The imitation was somewhat lame, it is 
true, the proportions being but indifferently ob- 
served ; but, after much difficulty, Mr. Jones had 
the satisfaction of seeing an object reared, that 
oore, in its outlines, a prodigious resemblance to an 
old-fashioned vinegar-cruet. There was less op- 
position to this model than to the windows, for 
the settlers were fond of novelty, and their steeple 
was without a precedent. 

Here the labour had ceased for the season, and 
the difficult question of the interior remained for 


THE PIONKKRS. 


151 


further deliberation. Richard well knew, that 
when he came to propose a reading-desk and a 
chancel, he must unmask ; for these were arrange- 
ments, known to no church in the country, but 
his own. Presuming, however, on the advantages 
he had already obtained, he boldly styled the build 
ing St. Paul’s, and Hiram prudently acquiesced in 
this appellation, making, however, the slight addi- 
tion of calling it “ New St. Paul’s,” feeling less 
aversion to a name taken from the English Cathe- 
dral, than from the saint. 

The pedestrian, whom we have already men- 
tioned, as pausing to contemplate this edifice, Vas 
no other than the gentleman so frequently named 
as Mr., or Squire, Doolittle. He was of a tall, 
gaunt formation, with sharp features, and a face 
that expressed formal propriety, mingled with low 
cunning. Richard approached him, followed by 
Monsieur Le Quoi and the Major domo. 

“ Good evening, Squire,” said Richard, bobbing 
his head, but without moving his hands from his 
pockets. 

cc Good evening, Squire,” echoed Hiram, turning 
nis body, in order to turn his head also. 

“ A cold night, Mr. Doolittle, a cold night, sir.” 

C( Coolish,” said Hiram ; “ a tedious spell on’t.” 

“ What, looking at our church, ha ! it looks well 
by moonlight ; how the tin of the cupola glistens. 
\ warrant you, the dome of the other St. Paul’s 
sever shines so in the smoke of London.” 

“It is a pretty meeting-house to look on,” re- 
turned Hiram, “ and I believe that Monshure Ler 
Quow and Mr. Penguilliam will allow it.” 

“Sairtainlee!” exclaimed the complaisant French 
man, “ it ees ver fine.” 

“ 1 thought the Monshure would say so,” ob 
server! Hiram. “ Them last molasses that we had 


152 


THE PIONEERS. 


was excellent good. It isn’t likely that you have 
any more of it on hand ?” 

“ Ah ! oui ; ees, sair,” returned Monsieur Le 
Quoi, with a slight shrug of his shoulder, and a tri- 
fling grimace, “ dere is more. I feel verhappi dat 
you love eet. I hope dat Madame Doleet’ is in 
good ’ealth.” 

“ Why, so as to be stirring,” said Hiram. — “ The 
Squire hasn’t finished the plans for the inside of 
the meeting house yet ?” 

“ No — no — no,” returned Richard, speaking 
quickly, but making a significant pause between 
each negative — “ it requires reflection. There is 
a great deal of room to fill up, and I am afraid we 
shall not know how to dispose of it to advantage. 
There will be a large vacant spot around the pul- 
pit, which I do not mean to place against the wall, 
like a sentry-box stuck up on the side of a fort.” 

“ It is ruleable to put the deacons’ box under 
the pulpit,” said Hiram ; and then, as if he had 
ventured too much, he added, “ but there’s differ- 
ent fashions in different countries.” 

“That there is,” cried Benjamin; “now, in 
running down the coast of Spain and Portingall. 
you may see a nunnery stuck out on every head- 
land, with more steeples and outriggers, such as 
dog-vanes and weather-cocks, than you’ll find 
aboard of a three-masted schooner. If-so-be that 
a well built church is wanting, Old England, after 
all, is the country to go to, after your models and 
fashion pieces. As to Paul’s, thof I’ve never seen 
it, being that it’s a long way up town from Rad- 
cliffe-highway and the docks, yet every body knows 
that iPs the grandest place in the world. Now, 
I’ve no opinion but this here church over there, is 
as like one end of it, as a grampus is to a whale ; 
and that’s only a small difference in bulk. Moun- 


THE PIONEERS. 


153 


sheer Ler Quaw here, has been in foreign parts, 
and thof that is not the same as having been at 
home, yet he must have seen churches in France 
too, and can form a small idee of what a church 
should be : now, I ask the Mounsheer to his face, 
if it is not a clever little thing, taking it by and 
large ?” 

“ It ees ver apropos to saircumstonce,” said the 
Fienchman — u ver judgement— but it is in de ca- 
tholique country dat dey build de — vat you call — 
ah a ah-ha — la grande cathedrale — de big church. 
St. Paul, Londre, is ver fine ; ver bootiful ; ver 
grand — vat you call beeg ; but, Monsieur Ben, 
pardonnez moi, it is no vort so much as Notre 
Dame” 

“ Ha ? Mounsheer, what is that you say r” cried 
Benjamin — “ St. Paul’s church not worth so much 
as a damn ! Mayhap you may be thinking too, that 
the Royal Billy isn’t as good a ship as the Billy de 
Paris ; but she would have lick’d two of her, any 
day, and in all weathers.” 

As Benjamin had assumed a very threatening 
kind of attitude, flourishing an arm, with a bunch 
at the end of it, that was half as big as Monsieur 
Le Quoi’s head, Richard thought it time to inter- 
pose his authority. 

“ Hush, Benjamin, hush,” he said ; cc you both 
misunderstand Monsieur Le Quoi, and forget your 
6elf. — But here comes Mr. Grant, and the service 
will commence. Let us go in.” 

The Frenchman, who received Benjamin’s reply 
with a well-bred good humour, that would not ad- 
mit of any feeling but pity for the other’s ignorance, 
bowed in acquiescence, and followed his com- 
panion. 

Hiram and the Major Domo brought up the rear, 
the latter grumbling, as he entered the building— 


154 


THE PIONEEHS 


“ If-so-be that the King of France had so much 
as a house to live in, that would lay along-side of 
Paul’s, one might put up with their jaw. It’s more 
than flesh and bloo'd can bear, to hear a Frenchman 
run down an English church in this manner. Why , 
Squire Doolittle, Pve been at the whipping of two 
of them in one day — clean built, snug frigates, with 
standing-royals, and them new-fashioned cannon- 
ades on their quarters — such as, if they had only 
Englishmen aboard of them, would have fout the 
devil.” 

With this ominous word in his mouth, Benjamin 
entered the church ! 


CHAPTER XT, 


And fools, who came to scoff, remain’d to pray.” 

Goldsmith. 


NorwiTHSTAsroiNG the united labours of Ri- 
chard and Benjamin, the “ long-room” was but an 
extremely plain and inartificial temple. Benches, 
made in the coarsest manner, and entirely with a 
view to usefulness, were arranged in rows, for the 
reception of the congregation ; w T hile a rough, un- 
painted box, was placed against the wall, in the 
centre of the length of the apartment, as an apolo- 
gy for a pulpit. Something like a reading-desk 
was in front of this rostrum, and a small mahogany 
table, from the mansion-house, covered with a 
spotless damask cloth, stood a little on one side, 
by the way of an altar. Branches of pines and 
hemlocks were stuck in each of the fissures that 
offered, in the unseasoned, and hastily completed 
wood-work, of both the building and its furniture ; 
while festoons and hieroglyphics met the eye, in 
vast profusion, along the brown sides of the scratch- 
coated walls. As the room was only lighted by 
some ten or fifteen miserable candles, and the win- 
dows were without shutters, it would have been 
but a dreary, cheerless place for the solemnities of 
a Christmas-eve, had not the large fire, that was 


156 


THE PIONEERS. 


crackling at each end of the apartment, given an air 
of cheerfulness to the scene, by throwing an oc- 
casional glare of light through the vistas of bushes 
and faces. 

The two sexes were separated by an area in the 
centre of the room, immediately before the pulpit, 
and a few benches lined this space, that were oc- 
cupied by the principal personages of the village 
and its vicinity. This distinction was rather a 
gratuitous concession, made by the poorer and less 
polished part of the population, than a right claim- 
ed by the favoured few. One bench was occupied 
by the party of Judge Temple, including his daugh- 
ter, and, with the exception of Dr. Todd, no one 
else appeared willing to incur the imputation of 
pride, by taking a seat in what was., literally, the 
high place of the tabernacle. 

Richard filled a chair, that was placed behind 
another table, in the capacity of clerk ; while Ben- 
jamin, after heaping sundry logs on the fires, posted 
himself nigh by, in reserve for any movement that 
might require his co-operation. 

It would be greatly exceeding our limits to at- 
tempt a description of the congregation, for their 
dresses were as various as there were individuals. 
Some one article, of more than usual finery, and 
perhaps the relic of other days, was to be seen 
about most of the females, in connexion with the 
coarse attire of the woods. This, wore a faded 
silk, that had gone through at least three genera- 
tions, over coarse, woollen, black stockings ; that, 
a shawl, whose dies were as numerous as those of 
the rainbow, over an awkwardly fitting gown, of 
rough, brown “ woman’s wear.” In short, each 
one exhibited some favourite article, and all ap- 
peared in their best, both men and women ; while 
the ground -works in dress, in either sex, were the 


THE PIONEERS. 


157 


course fabrics manufactured within their own dwell- 
ings. One man appeared in the dress of a volun- 
teer company of artillery, of which he had been a 
member, in the u down-countries,” precisely foi 
no other reason, than because it was the best suit 
he had. Several, particularly of the younger 
men, displayed pantaloons of blue, edged with red 
cloth down the seams, part of the equipments of 
the “ Templeton Light Infantry,” from little va- 
nity to be seen in “ boughten clothes.” There 
was also one man in a w rifle frock,” with its 
fringes and folds of spotless white, striking a chill 
to the heart with the idea of its coolness ; although 
the thick coat of brown u home made,” that was 
concealed beneath, preserved to the wearer a pro- 
per degree of warmth. 

There was a marked uniformity of expression 
in countenance, especially in that half of the con- 
gregation, who did not enjoy the advantages of the 
polish of the village. A sallow skin, that indicated 
nothing but exposure, was common to all, as was 
an air of great decency and attention, mingled, 
generally, with an expression of shrewdness, and. 
in the present instance, of active curiosity. Now 
and then p face and dress were to be seen, among 
the congregation, that differed entirely from this 
description. If pock-marked, and florid, with gai 
tered legs, and a coat that snugly fitted the person 
of the wea er, it was surely an English emigrant, 
who had bent his steps to this retired quarter of 
the globe. If hard-featured, and without colour, 
with high cheek bones, it was a native of Scot- 
land, in { imilar circumstances. The short, black 
eyed m?n, with a cast of the swarthy Spaniard in 
his face, who rose repeatedly, to make room foi 
the behes of the village, as they entered, was a 
son of Erin, who had lately left off his pack, and 


158 


THE PIONEERS. 


become a stationary trader 'in Templeton. In short, 
half the nations in the north of Europe had their 
representatives in this assembly, though all had 
closely assimilated themselves to the Americans, 
in dress and appearance, except the Englishman. 
He, indeed, not only adhered to his native cus- 
toms, in attire and living, but usually drove his 
plough, among the stumps, in the same manner as 
he had before done, on the plains of Norfolk, until 
dear-bought experience taught him the useful les- 
son, that a sagacious people knew what was suited 
to their circumstances, better than a casual ob- 
server; or a sojourner, who was, perhaps, too 
much prejudiced to compare, and, peradventure, 
too conceited to learn. 

Elizabeth soon discovered that she divided the 
attention of the congregation, equally with Mr. 
Grant. Timidity, therefore, confined her obser- 
vation of the appearances which we have describ- 
ed, to stolen glances; but, as the stamping of feet 
was now becoming less frequent, and even the 
coughing, and other little preliminaries of a con- 
gregation settling themselves down into reverential 
attention, were ceasing, she felt emboldened to 
look around her. Gradually all noises diminished, 
until the suppressed cough denoted that it was 
necessary to avoid singularity, and the most pro- 
found stillness pervaded the apartment. The snap- 
ping of the fires, as they threw a powerful heat 
into the room, was alone heard, and each face, and 
every eye, were turned in expectation on the 
divine. 

At this moment, a heavy stamping of feet was 
heard in the passage below, as if a new comer was 
releasing his limbs from the snow, that was neces- 
sarily clinging to the legs of a pedestrian. It was 
ucceeded by no audible tread ; but directly Mo* 


THE PIONEERS 


159 


began, followed by the Leather-stocking and the 
young hunter, made his appearance. Their foot- 
steps would not have been heard, as they trod the 
apartment in their moccasins, but for the silence 
which prevailed. 

The Indian moved with great gravity across the 
floor, and, observing a vacant seat next to the 
Judge, he took it, in a manner that manifested his 
sense of his own dignity. Here, drawing his 
blanket closely around him, so as partly to con 
ceal his countenance, he remained during the ser 
vice, immoveable, but deeply attentive. Natty 
passed the place, that was so freely taken by his 
red companion, and seated himself on one end of 
a log that was lying near the fire, where he con- 
tinued, with his rifle standing between his legs, ab- 
sorbed in reflections, seemingly, of no very pleasing 
nature. The youth found a seat among the con- 
gregation, and another dead silence prevailed. 

Mr. Grant now arose, and commenced his ser- 
vice, with the sublime declaration of the Hebrew 
prophet — “ The Lord is in his holy temple ; let all 
the earth keep silence before him.” The example 
of Mr. Jones was unnecessary, to teach the congre- 
gation to rise : the solemnity of the manner of the 
divine effected this as by magic. After a short 
pause, Mr. Grant proceeded with the solemn and 
winning exhortation of his service. Nothing was 
heard but the deep, though affectionate, tones of 
the reader, as he slowly went through this exordi- 
um ; until, something unfortunately striking the 
mind of Richard as incomplete, he left his place, 
and walked on tip-toe from the room. 

When the clergyman bent his knees in piayer 
and confession, the congregatior so far imitated his 
example, as to resume their seats; whence no suc- 
ceeding effort of the divine, during the evening, was 


(60 


THE PIONEERS. 


able to remove them in a body. Some rose, at 
times, but by far the larger part continued unbend- 
ing ; observant, it is true, but it was the kind ot 
observation that regarded the ceremony as a spec- 
tacle j rather than a worship in which all were to 
{participate. Thus deserted by his clerk, Mr. Grant 
continued to read ; but no response was audible. 
The short and solemn pause, that succeeded each 
petition, was made ; still no voice repeated the 
eloquent language of the prayer. 

The lips of Elizabeth moved, but they moved 
in vain ; and, accustomed, as she was, to the ser- 
vice in the churches of the metropolis, she was 
beginning to feel the awkwardness of the circum- 
stance most painfully, when a soft, low, female 
voice repeated after the priest, “We have left un- 
done those things which we ought to have done.” 
Startled, at finding one of her own sex in that 
place, who could rise superior to their natural ti- 
midity, Miss Temple turned her eyes in the direc- 
tion of the humble penitent. She observed a 
young female, on her knees, but a short distance 
from her, with her meek face humbly bent ovei 
her book. The appearance of this stranger, for 
such she was, entirely, to Elizabeth, was light and 
fragile. Her dress, without being either rich or 
fashionable, was neat and becoming ; and hei 
countenance, though pale, and slightly agitated, 
excited deep interest, by its sweet, and perhaps 
melancholy expression. A second and third re- 
sponse were made by this juvenile assistant, when 
the rich, manly sounds of a youthful, male voice, 
proceeded from the opposite part of the room. 
Miss Temple knew the tones of the young hunter 
instantly, and,’ struggling to overcome her own 
diffidence, she added her low voice to the number. 

All this time, Benjamin stood thumbing the 


THE PIONEERS*. 


161 


loaves of a prayer-book with great industry, but 
some unexpected difficulties prevented his finding 
the place. Before the divine reached the close of 
the confession, however, Richard re -appeared at 
the door, and, as he moved lightly across the room, 
he took up the response, in a voice that betrayed 
no other concern than that of not being heard. In 
his hand he carried a small open box, with the 
figures of “ 8 by 10” written in black paint, on one 
of its sides ; which having placed in the pulpit, 
apparently as a footstool for the divine, he return- 
ed to his station in time to say, most sonorously, 
“ amen.” The eyes of the congregation, very 
naturally, were turned to the windows, as Mr. 
Jones entered with this singular load, and then, as 
if accustomed to his “ general agency,” were again 
bent on the priest, in close and curious attention. 

The long experience of Mr. Grant had admira- 
bly qualified him to perform with success his pre- 
sent duty. He well understood the character of 
his listeners, who were mostly a primitive people 
in their habits ; and who, being a good deal ad- 
dicted to subtleties and nice distinctions in their 
religious opinions, viewed the introduction into 
their spiritual worship of any such temporal assist- 
ance as form, not only with jealousy, but frequent- 
ly with disgust. He had acquired much of his 
knowledge from studying the great book of hu 
man nature, as it lay open in the world ; and, 
knowing how dangerous it was to contend w ith ig- 
norance, uniformly endeavoured to avoid dictating, 
where his better reason taught him it was tho 
most prudent to attempt to lead. His orthodoxy 
had no dependence on his cassock; he could pray, 
with fervour and with faith, if circumstances re- 
quired it, without the assistance of his clerk ; and 
ne had even been known to preach a most evan 
Id * 


162 


THE PIONEERS. 


gelical sermon, in the winning mannei of native 
eloquence, without the aid of a cambric handker- 
chief. 

In the present instance he yielded, in many 
places, to the prejudices of his congregation ; and 
when he had ended, there was not one of his new 
hearers, who did not think the ceremonies less 
papal and offensive, and more conformant to hi? 
or her own notions of devout worship, than they 
had been led to expect from a service of forms 
Truly, Richard found in the divine, during the 
evening, a most powerful co-operator in his reli- 
gious schemes. In preaching, Mr. Grant endea- 
voured to steer a middle course, between the 
mystical doctrines of those sublimated creeds, 
which daily involve their professors in the most 
absurd contradictions, and those fluent rules foi 
moral government, which would reduce the Sa- 
viour to a level with the teacher of a school of 
ethics. Doctrine it was necessary for him to 
preach, for nothing less would have satisfied the 
disputatious people who were his listeners, and 
who would have interpreted silence on his part, 
into a tacit acknowledgment of either the super- 
ficial nature of his creed, or his own inability to 
Jefend it. We have already said that, among the 
endless variety of their religious instructers, the 
settlers were accustomed to hear every denomi- 
nation urge its own distinctive precepts ; and to 
have found one indifferent to this interesting sub- 
ject, would have been destructive to his influence. 
But Mr. Grant so happily blended the universally 
received opinions of the Christian faith, with the 
dogmas of his own church, that, although none 
were entirely exempt from the influence of his 
reasons, very few t rnk any alarm at the innova- 
tion. 


THE PIONEERS. 


163 


“ When we consider the great diversity of the 
human character, influenced as it is by education, 
by opportunity, and by the physical and moral con- 
ditions of the creature, my dear hearers,” he ear- 
nestly concluded, u it can excite no surprise, 
that creeds, so very different in their tendencies, 
should grow out of a religion, revealed, it is irue, 
but whose revelations are obscured by the lapse 
of ages, and whose doctrines were, after the fa- 
shion of the countries in which they were first pro- 
mulgated, frequently delivered in parables, and in 
a language abounding in metaphors, and loaded 
with figures. On points where the learned have, 
in pufity of heart, been compelled to differ, the 
unlettered will necessarily be at variance. But, 
happily for us, my brethren, the fountain of divine 
love flows from a source too pure to admit of pol- 
lution in its course ; it extends, to those who drink 
of its vivifying waters, the peace of the righteous, 
and life everlasting ; it endures through all time, 
and it pervades creation. If there be mystery in 
its workings, it is the mystery of a Divinity. With 
a clear knowledge of the nature, the might, and 
majesty of God, there might be conviction, but 
there could be no faith. If we are required to be- 
lieve in doctrines that seem not in conformity with 
the deductions of human wisdom, let us never for- 
get, that such is the mandate of a wisdom that is 
infinite. It is sufficient for us, that enough is de- 
veloped to point our path aright, and to direct our 
wandering steps to that portal, which shall open 
on the light of an eternal day. Then, indeed, it 
may be humbly hoped, that the film, which has 
been spread by the subtleties of earthly arguments, 
will be dissipated by the spiritual light of heaven ; 
and that our hour of probation, by the aid of divine 
grace, being once passed in triumph, will be fol* 


164 


THE PIONEERS 


lowed by an eternity of intelligence, and endless 
ages of fruition. All that is now obscure shall be- 
come plain to our expanded faculties ; and what to 
our present senses may seem irreconcilable to 
our limited notions of mercy, of justice, and of love, 
shall stand, irradiated by the ligTit of truth, con- 
fessedly the suggestions of Omniscience, and the 
acts of an All-powerful Benevolence. 

“ What a lesson of humility, my brethren, might 
not each of us obtain, from a review of his infant 
hours, and the recollection of his juvenile passions ! 
How differently do the same acts of parental ri- 
gour appear, in the eyes of the suffering child, and 
of the chastened man ! When the sophist would 
supplant, with the wild theories of his worldly wis- 
dom, the positive mandates of inspiration, let him 
remember the expansion of his own feeble intel- 
lects, and pause — let him feel the wisdom of God, 
in what is partially concealed, as well as in that 
which is revealed ; — in short, let him substitute hu- 
mility for pride of reason — let him have faith, and 
live ! 

“ The consideration of this subject is full of con 
solation, my hearers, and does not fail to bring 
with it lessons of humility and of profit, that, duly 
improved, would both chasten the heart, and 
strengthen the feeble-minded man in his course. 
It is a blessed consolation, to be able to lay the 
misdoubtings of our arrogant nature at the threshold 
of the dwelling-place of the Deity, from whence 
they shall be swept away, at the great opening of 
the portal, like the mists of the morning before the 
rising sun. It teaches us a lesson of humility, by 
impressing us with the imperfection of human 
powers, and by warning us of the many weak 
ooints, where we are op#n to the attacks of the 
great enemy of our race ; it proves to us, that we 


THE PIONEFRS. 


165 


are in danger of being weak, when oui* vanity 
would fain sooth us into the belief that we are 
most strong ; it forcibly points out to us the vain- 
glory of intellect, and shows us the vast difference 
between a saving faith, and the corollaries of a phi- 
losophical theology ; and it teaches us to reduce 
our self-examination to the test of good works. 
By good works, must be understood the fruits of 
repentance, the chiefest of which is charity. Not 
that charity only, which causes us to help the 
needy and comfort the suffering, but that feeling 
of universal philanthropy, which, by teaching u« to 
love, causes us to judge with lenity, all men; strik- 
ing at the root of self-righteousness, and warning 
us to be sparing of our condemnation of others, 
while our own salvation is not yet secure. 

w The lesson of expediency, my brethren, which 
I would gather from the consideration of this sub- 
ject, is most strongly inculcated by our humility. 
On the leading and essential points of our faith, 
there is but little difference, among those classes of 
Christians who acknowledge the attributes of the 
Saviour, and depend on his mediation. But here- 
sies have polluted every church, and schisms are 
the fruits of disputation. In order to arrest these 
dangers, and to ensure the union of his followers, it 
would seem that Christ had established his visible 
church, and delegated the ministry. Wise and 
holy men, the fathers of our religion, have expend- 
ed their labours in clearing what was revealed from 
the obscurities of language, and the results of their 
experience and researches have been embodied in 
the form of evangelical discipline. That this dis- 
cipline must be salutary, is evident from the view 
of the weakness of human nature that we have al- 
ready taken : and that it may be profitable to us, 
and all who listen to its precepts and its liturgy 


166 


THE PIOJ.VEER3 


may God, in his infinite wisdom, grant. — And now 
to,” &c. 

With this ingenious reference to his own forms 
m and ministry, Mr. Grant concluded his discourse. 
The most profound attention had been paid to the 
sermon during the whole of its delivery, although 
the prayers had not been received with such a per- 
fect demonstration of respect. This was by no 
means an intended slight of that liturgy, to which 
the divine had alluded, but was the habit of a peo- 
ple, who owed their very existence, as a distinct 
nation, to the doctrinal character of their ancestors. 
Sundry looks of private dissatisfaction were ex- 
changed between Hiram and one or two of the 
leading members of the conference , but the feeling 
went no farther at that time ; and the congregation, 
after receiving the blessing of Mr. Grant, dispersed 
; n silence, and with great decorum. 


CHAPTER XII . 


Your creeds and dogmas of a learned church 
May build a fabric, fair with moral beauty ; 
But it would seem, that the strong hand of God 
Can, only, ’rase the devil from the heart. 

Duo 


While the congregation was separating, Mr 
Grant approached the place where Elizabeth and 
her father were seated, leading the youthful female, 
whom we have mentioned in the preceding chap- 
ter, and presented her as his daughter. Her re- 
ception was as cordial and frank as the manners of 
the country, and the value of good society, could 
render it ; the two young women feeling, instantly, 
that they were necessary to the comfort of each 
other. The Judge, to whom the clergyman’s 
daughter was also a stranger, was pleased to find 
one, who, from habits, sex, and years, could proba- 
bly contribute largely to the pleasures of his own 
child, during her first privations, on her removal 
from the associations of a city to the solitude of 
Templeton; while Elizabeth, who had been forcibly 
struck with the sweetness and devotion of the 
youthful suppliant, removed the slight embarrass- 
ment of the timid stranger, by the ease and finish 
of her own manners. They were at once acquaint- 
ed, and, during the ten minutes that the “ acade- 
my” was clearing, engagements were made be- 


168 


THE PIONEERS. 


tween the young people, not only for their pursuits 
during the succeeding day, after the service, but 
they would probably have embraced in their ar- 
rangements half of the winter, had not the divine- 
interrupted them, by saying — 

“ Gently, gently, my dear Miss Temple, or you 
will make my girl i >o dissipated. You forget that 
she is my housekeeper, and that my domestic af- 
fairs must remain unattended to, should Louisa ac- 
cept of half the kind offers that you are so good as 
to make her ; ” 

“ And why should they not be neglected entire- 
ly, sir ?” interrupted Elizabeth. “ There are but 
two of you ; and certain I am that my father’s 
house will not only contain you both, but will open 
its doars spontaneously, to receive such guests. 
Society is a good, not to be rejected on account of 
cold forms, in this wilderness, sir ; and I have of- 
ten neard my father say, that hospitality is not a 
virtue in a new country, the favour being conferred 
on the host by the guest.” 

u The manner in which Judge Temple exercises 
its rites would confirm this opinion,” said the di- 
vine ; “ but we must not trespass too freely. 
Doubt not that you will see us often, my child 
particularly, during the frequent visits that I shall 
be compelled to make to the distant parts of the 
country. But to obtain an influence with such a 
people,” he continued, glancing his eyes towards 
the few, who were still lingering, as curious ob- 
servers of the interview, “ a clergyman must not 
awaken envy or distrust, by dwelling under so 
splendid a roof as that of Judge Temple.” 

u You like the roof, then, Mr. Grant,” cried Ri- 
chard, who had been directing the extinguishment 
of the fires, and other little necessary duties, and 
who now approached, so as to hear the close of the 


THE PIONEERS. 


169 


divine’s speech — “ I am glad to find one man of 
taste at last. Here’s ’duke, now, pretends to call 
it by every abusive name he can invent; but 
though ’duke is a very tolerable Judge, sir, he is a 
very poor carpenter, let me tell him. Well, sir, 
well, 1 think we may say, without boasting, that 
the service was as well performed this evening as 
you often see ; I think, quite as well as I ever 
knew it to be done in old Trinity — that is, if we 
except the organ. But there is the schoolmaster 
leads a psalm with a very good air. I used to lead 
myself, but latterly I have sung nothing but bass. 
There is a good deal of science to be shown in the 
bass, and it affords a fine opportunity to show off a 
full, deep voice. Benjamin, too, sings a good bass, 
though he is often out in the words. Did you ever 
hear Benjamin sing the c Bay of Biscay, O ?’ ” 

“ I believe he gave us part of it this evening,” 
said Marmaduke, laughing. u There was, now 
and then, a fearful quaver in his voice, and it seems 
that Mr. Penguillian is like most others who do one 
thing particularly well : he knows nothing else, fie 
has, certainly, a wonderful partiality to one tune, 
and he has a prodigious self-confidence in that one, 
for he delivers himself like a north-wester sweep- 
ing across the lake. But come, gentlemen, our 
w ay is clear, and the sleigh waits. — Good evening, 
Mr. Grant. Good night, young lady — remember 
that you dine beneath the Corinthian roof to-mor- 
row, with Elizabeth.” 

The parties separated, Richard holding a close 
dissertation with Mr. Le Quoi, as they descended 
the stairs, on the subject of psalmody, which he 
closed by a violent eulogium on the air of the 
“ Bay of Biscay, O,” as particularly connected with 
his friend Benjamin’s execution. 

During the preceding dialogue, Mohegan had 
15 


170 


THE PIONEERS 


retained his seat, with his head shrouded in his 
blanket, as seemingly inattentive to surrounding 
objects, as the departing congregation was, itself, 
to the presence of the aged chief. Natty, also, 
continued on the log, wheie he had first placed 
himself, with his head resting on one of his hands, 
while the other held the rifle, which was thrown 
carelessly across his lap. His countenance ex- 
pressed extraordinary uneasiness, and the occa- 
sional unquiet glances, that he had thrown around 
him during the service, plainly indicated some un- 
usual causes for unhappiness. His continuing 
seated was, however, from respect to the Indian 
chief, to whom he paid the utmost deference, on all 
occasions, although it was mingled with the rough 
manner of a hunter. 

The young companion of these two ancient in- 
nabitants of the forest remained also, standing be 
fore the extinguished brands, probably from an un- 
willingness to depart without his comrades. The 
room was now deserted by all but this group, the 
divine, and his daughter. As the party from the 
Mansion-house disappeared, John arose, and drop- 
ping the blanket from his head, he shook back the 
mass of black hair from his face, and approaching 
Mr. Grant, he extended his hand, and said so- 
lemnly — 

u Father, I thank you. The words that have 
been said, since the rising moon, have goAe up- 
ward, and the Great Spirit is glad. What you have 
told your children, they will remember, and be 
good.” He paused a moment, and then, elevating 
himself to all the grandeur of an Indian chief, he 
idded — “ If Chingaehgook lives to travel towards 
the setting sun, after his tribe, and the Great Spirit 
cairies him over the lakes and mountains, with 
the breath in his body, he will tell his people the 


THE PIONEERS. 


171 


good talk he has heard ; and they will believe him ; 
for who can say that Mohegan has ever lied ?” 

u Let him place his dependence on the goodness 
of -Divine mercy,” said Mr. Grant, to whom the 
proud consciousness of the Indian sounded a little 
heterodox, “ and it never will desert him. When 
the heart is filled with love to God, there is no 
room left for sin. — But, young man, to you I owe 
not only an obligation, in common with those you 
saved this evening, on the mountain, but my thanks, 
for your respectful and pious manner, in assisting 
in the service, at a most embarrassing. moment. I 
should be happy to see you sometimes, at my 
dwelling, when, perhaps, my conversation may 
strengthen you in the path which you appear to 
have chosen. It is so unusual to find one of your 
age and appearance, in these woods, at all acquaint- 
ed with our holy liturgy, that it lessens at once the 
distance between us, and I feel that we are no 
longer strangers. You seem quite at home in the 
service : I did not perceive that you had even a 
book, although good Mr. Jones had laid several in 
different parts of the room.” 

“ It would be strange, if I were ignorant of the 
service of our church, sir,” returned the youth, 
modestly, M for I was baptized in its communion, 
and I have never yet attended public worship else- 
where. For me to use the forms of any other de- 
nomination, would be as singular as our own have 
proved to the people here this evening.” 

u You give me great pleasure to hear you, my 
dear sir,” cried the divine, seizing the other by the 
hand, and shaking it cordially. — “ You will go home 
with me now — indeed you must — my child has yet 
to thank you for saving my life. I will listen to 
no apologies. This worthy Indian, and your friend 
there, will accompanv us. — Bless me to think that 


172 


THE PIONEERS. 


he has arrived at manhood, in this country, with- 
out entering a dissenting meeting-house !” 

44 No, no,” interrupted the Leather-stocking 
44 I must away to the wigwam : there’s work there, 
that mus’n’t be forgotten, for all your churchings 
and merry-makings. Let the lad go with you in 
welcome ; he is used to keeping company with 
ministers, and talking of such matters ; so is old 
John, who was christianized by the Moravians, 
about the time of the old war. But I am a plain, 
unlarned man, that has sarved the king and his 
country, in ,his day, ag’in the French and savages, 
but never so much as looked into a book, or larnt 
a letter of scholarship, in my born days. I’ve ne- 
ver seen the use of sitch in-door kind of work, 
though I have lived to be partly bald, and, in my 
time, have killed two hundred beaver in a season, 
and that without counting the other game. — If you 
mistrust what I am telling you, you can ask Chin- 
gachgook there, for I did it in the heart of the De- 
laware country, and the old man is knowing to the 
truth of every word I say.” 

44 I doubt not, my friend, that you have been 
both a valiant soldier and skilful hunter, in your 
day,” said the divine ; 44 but more is wanting, to 
prepare you for that end which approaches. You 
may have heard the maxim, that 4 young men may 
die, but that old men must? ” 

44 I’m sure I never was so great a fool as to ex- 
pect to live for ever,” said Natty, giving one of his 
silent laughs : 44 no man need do that, who trails 
the savages through the woods, as I have done, and 
lives, for the hot months, on the lake streams. I’ve 
a strong constitution, I must say that for myself, as 
is plain to be seen ; for I’ve drunk the Onondagt 
water a hundred times, while I’ve been watching 
the deer-licks, when the fever-an-agy seeds waste 


THE PIONEERS. 


173 


be seen in t, as plain and as plenty as you can see 
the rattte-snakes on old Crumhorn. But then, I 
never expected to hold out for ever ; though there’s 
them living, who have seen the Garman Flats a 
wilderness ; ay ! and them that’s larned, and ac- 
quainted with religion too ; though you might look 
a week now, and not find even the stump of a pine 
on them ; and that’s a wood that lasts in the ground 
the better part of a hundred years.” 

u This is but time, my good friend,” returned 
Mr. Grant, who began to take an interest in the 
welfare of his new acquaintance, u but it is for 
eternity that I would have you prepare. It is in- 
cumbent on you to attend places of public worship, 
as I am pleased to see that you have done this 
evening. Would it not be heedless in you to start 
on a day’s toil of hard hunting, and leave your 
ramrod and flint behind you ?” 

“ It must be a young hand in the woods,” in 
terrupted Natty, with another laugh, “ that didn’t 
know how to dress a rod out of an ash sapling, or 
find a fire-stone in the mountains. No, no, I never 
expected to live for ever ; but I see, times be al- 
tering in these mountains from what they was 
thirty years ago, or, for that matter, ten years. But 
might makes right, and the law is stronger than an 
old man, whether he is one that has much laming, 
or only one like me, that is better now at standing 
at the passes than in following the hounds, as I 
once used to could. Heigh-ho ! I never know’d 
preaching come into a settlement, but it made game 
scearce, and raised the price of gun-powder ; and 
that’s a thing that’s not as easily made as a ram- 
rod, or an Indian flint.” 

The divine, perceiving that he had given his op- 
ponent an argument;, by his own unfortunate se- 
ection of a comparison, very prudently relinquished 

15 * 


174 


THE PIONEERS. 


the controversy, for the present ; although he was 
fully determined to resume it at a more happy mo- 
ment. Repeating his request to the young hunter, 
with great earnestness, the youth and Indian con- 
sented to accompany him and his daughter to the 
dwelling, that the care of Mr. Jones had provided 
for their temporary residence. Leather-stocking 
pei severed in his intention of returning to the hut. 
and at the door of the building they separated. 

After following the course of one of the streets 
of the village for a short distance, Mr. Grant, who 
led the way, turned into a field, through a pair of 
open bars, and entered a foot-path, of but sufficient 
width to admit of only one person to walk in it, at 
a time. The moon had gained a height that ena- 
bled her to throw her rays nearly perpendicularly 
on the valley ; and the distinct shadows of the 
party flitted along on the banks of the silver snow, 
like the presence of aerial figures, gliding to their 
appointed place of meeting. The night still con- 
tinued intensely cold, although not a breath of wind 
was to be felt. The path was beaten so hard, that 
the gentle female, who made one of the party, 
moved with ease along its windings ; though the 
frosc emitted a low creaking, at the impression of 
even her light footsteps. 

The clergyman in his dark dress of broad-cloth, 
with his mild, benevolent countenance occasionally 
turned towards his companions, expressing that 
look of subdued care, that was its characteristic? 
presented the first object of this singularly consti- 
tuted group. Next to him moved the Indian, with 
his hair falling about his face, his head uncovered, 
and the rest of his form concealed beneath his 
blanket. As his swarthy visage, with its muscles 
fixed in rigid composure, was seen under the light 
of the moon which struck his face obliquely, he 


THE PIONEERS. 


175 


seemed a picture of resigned old age, on whom the. 
storms of winter had beaten in vain, for the greater 
part of a century ; but when in turning his head, 
the. rays fell directly on his dark, fiery eyes, they 
told a tale of passions unrestrained, and of thoughts 
free as the air he breathed. The slight person of 
Miss Grant, which followed next, and which was 
but too thinly clad for the severity of the season, 
formed a marked contrast to the wild attire, and 
uneasy glances of the Delaware chief ; and more 
than once, during their walk, the young hunter, 
himself no insignificant figure in the group, was led 
to consider the difference in the human form, as 
the face of Mohegan, and the gentle countenance 
of Miss Grant, with eyes that rivalled the soft hue 
of the sky in colour, met his view, at the instant 
that each turned, to throw a glance at the splendid 
orb, that lighted their path. Their wary, which 
led through fields, that lay at some distance in the 
rear of the houses, was cheered by a conversation, 
that flagged or became animated with the subject. 
The first to speak was the divine. 

“ Really,” he said, “ it is so singular a circum- 
stance to meet with one of your age, that has not 
been induced by an idle curiosity to visit any other 
church than the one in which he has been educat- 
ed, that 1 feel a strong curiosity to know the his- 
tory of a life so fortunately regulated. — Your edu- 
cation must have been an excellent one ; as indeed 
is evident from your manners and language. Of 
which of the states are you a native, Mr. Edwards ? 
for such, I believe, was the name that you gave to 
Judge Temple.” 

“ Of this” — 

u Of this ! I was at a loss to conjecture, from 
vour dialect, which does not partake, particularly, 
*f the peculiarities of any country with which I 


6 


THE PIONEERS. 


am acquainted. You have, then, resided much in 
the cities, for no other part of this country is so for- 
tunate as to possess the constant enjoyment of our 
excellent liturgy.” 

The young hunter smiled, as he listened to the 
divine while he so clearly betrayed from what part 
of the country he had come himself ; but for rea- 
sons, probably, connected with his present situa- 
tion, he made no answer. 

“I am delighted to meet with you, my young 
friend, for I think an ingenuous mind, such as J 
doubt not yours must be, will exhibit all the ad- 
vantages of a settled doctrine and devout liturgy. 
You perceive how I was compelled to bend to the 
humours of my hearers this evening. Good Mr. 
Jones wished me to read the communion, and, in 
fact, all the morning service ; but, happily, the ca- 
nons do not require this in an evening. It would 
have wearied a new congregation ; but to-morrow , 
I purpose administering the sacrament. Do you 
commune, my young friend ?” 

“ I believe not, sir,” returned the youth, with a 
little embarrassment, that was not at all diminish- 
ed by Miss Grant’s pausing involuntarily, and turn- 
ing her eyes on him in evident surprise — “ I fear 
that I am not qualified ; I have never yet approach- 
ed the altar ; neither would I wish to do it, while 
I find so much of the world clinging to my heart, 
as I now experience.” 

“ Each must judge for himself,” said Mr. Grant * 

“ though I should think that a youth who had ne- 
ver been blown about by the wind of false doc- 
trines, and who has enjoyed the advantages of our 
liturgy for so many years in its purity, might safely 
come. Yet, sir, it is a solemn festival, which none 
should celebrate, until there is reason to hope it is 
not mockery. I observed this evening, in your 


THE 1IONEERS. 


177 


manner to Judge Temple, a resentment that bo 
dered on one of the worst of human passions. — M e 
will cross this brook on the ice : it must bear us 
all, I think, in safety. — Be careful not to slip, my 
child.” While speaking, he descended a little bank 
by the path, and crossed one of the small streams 
that poured their waters into the lake ; and turn- 
ing to see his daughter pass, observed that the 
youth had advanced, and was kindly directing her 
footsteps. When all were safely over, he moved 
up the opposite bank, and continued his discourse. 
— “ It was wrong, my dear sii , very wrong, to suf- 
fer such feelings to rise, under any circumstances, 
and especially in the present, where the evil was 
not intended.” 

“ There is good in the talk of my father,” said 
Mohegan, stopping short, and causing those who 
were behind him to pause also ; “ it is the talk of 
Miquon. The white man may do as his fathers 
have told him; but the c Young Eagle’ has the 
blood of a Delaware chief in his veins : it is red 
and the stain it makes can only be washed out witl 
the blood of a Mingo.”* 

Mr. Grant was surprised by the interruption of 
the Indian, and, stopping, faced the speaker. His 
mild features were confronted to the fierce and de- 
termined looks of the chief, and expressed all the 
horror that he felt at hearing such sentiments from 
one who professed the religion of his Saviour. 
Raising his hands to a level with his head, he ex- 
claimed — 

M John, John ! is this the religion that you have 
learned from the Moravians ? But no — I will not 
be so uncharitable as to suppose it. They are a 
pious, a gentle, and a mild people, and could never 


* His enemy 


178 


THE PIONEERS. 


tolerate these passions. Listen to the language cl 
the Redeemer — ‘ But I say unto you, love your 
enemies ; bless them that curse you , do good to 
them that hate you ; and pray for them that de- 
spitefully use you and persecute you.’ — This is the 
command of God, John, and without striving to 
cultivate such feelings, no man can see him.” 

The Indian heard the exclamation of the divine 
with attention; the unusual fire of his eye gradual- 
ly softened, and his muscles relaxed into their or- 
dinary composure ; but, slightly shaking his head, 
he motioned with dignity for Mr. Grant to resume 
his walk, and followed himself again in silence. 
The agitation of the divine caused him to move 
with unusual rapidity along the deep path, and the 
Indian, without any apparent^ exertion, kept an 
equal pace ; but the young hunter observed the 
female to linger in her steps, until a trifling dis- 
tance intervened between the two former and the 
latter. Struck by the circumstance, and not perceiv- 
ing any new impediment to retard her footsteps, 
the youth made a tender of his assistance, by say- 
ing— 

“You are fatigued, Miss Grant ; the snow yields 
to the foot, and you are unequal to the strides of 
us men. Step on the crust, I entreat you, and take 
the help of my arm. Yonder light is, I believe, 
the house of your father ; but it seems yet at some 
distance.” 

“ I am quite equal to the walk,” returned a low, 
tremulous voice ; “but I am startled by* the man- 
ner of that Indian chief. Oh! his eye was horrid, 
as he turned to the moon, in speaking to my father. 
But I forget, sir ; he is your friend, and by his 
language may be your relative ; and yet of you I 
do not feel afraid.” 

The young man stepped on the bank of snow 


THE PIONEERS. 


179 


which firmly sustained his weight, and by a gentle 
effort induced his companion to follow him. Draw- 
ing her arm through his own, he lifted his cap from 
his head allowing his dark locks to flow in rich 
curls over his open brow, and walked by her side, 
with an air of conscious pride, as if inviting an ex- 
amination of his inmost thoughts. — Louisa took 
but a furtive glance at his person, and moved qui- 
etly along, at a rate that was greatly quickened 
by the aid of his arm. 

“You are but little acquainted with this pecu 
liar people, Miss Grant,” he said, “ or you would 
know that revenge is a virtue with an Indian. 
They are taught, from infancy upward, to believe 
it a duty, never to allow an injury to pass ume- 
sisted ; and nothing, but the stronger claims of 
hospitality, can guard one against their resent- 
ments, where they have power to act their will.” 

“ Surely, sir,” said Miss Grant, involuntarily 
withdrawing her arm from his, “ you have not been 
educated with such unholy sentiments.” 

“ It might be a sufficient answer to your excel- 
lent father, to say, that I was educated in the 
church,” he returned ; “ but to you I will add, 
that I have been taught deep and practical lessons 
of forgiveness. I believe that, on this subject, I 
have but little cause to reproach mysfelf ; but it 
shall be my endeavour that there yet be less.” 

While speaking, he stopped, and stood with his 
arm again proffered to her assistance. Ashe end- 
ed, she quietly accepted his offer, and they resum- 
ed their walk. 

Mr. Grant and Mohegan had reached the door 
of the former’s residence, and stood waiting near 
its threshold for the arrival of their younger com- 
panions. The formei was earnestly occupied, in 


180 


THE PIONEERS. 


endeavouring to correct, by his precepts, the evil 
propensities that he had discovered in the Indian, 
during their conversation ; which the latter heard 
in profound, but respectful attention. On the ar- 
rival of the young hunter and the lady, they en- 
tered the building. » 

The house stood at some distance from the vil- 
lage, in the centre of a field, surrounded by stumps, 
that were peering above the snow, bearing caps 
of pure white nearly two feet in thickness. Not 
a tree or a shrub was nigh it ; but the house, ex- 
ternally, exhibited that cheerless, unfinished as- 
pect, which is so common to the hastily-erected 
dwellings of a new country. The uninviting cha- 
racter of its outside was, however, happily con- 
trasted by the exquisite neatness, and comfortable 
warmth, within. » 

They entered an apartment that was fitted as a 
parlour, though the large fire-place, with its culi- 
nary arrangements, betrayed the domestic uses to 
which it was occasionally applied. The bright 
blaze from the hearth rendered the light, that pro- 
ceeded from /he candle that Louisa produced, un- 
necessary ; for the scanty furniture of the room 
was easily seen and examined by the former. The 
floor was covered, in the centre, by a carpet made 
of rags, a species of manufacture that was, then, 
and yet continues to be, much in use, in the inte- 
rior ; while its edges, that were exposed to view, 
were of unspotted cleanliness. There was a tri- 
fling air of better life, in a tea-table and work stand, 
as well as in an old-fashioned mahogany book-case ; 
but the chairs, the dining-table, and the rest of 
the furniture, were of the plainest and cheapest 
construction. Against the walls were hung a few 
specimens of needlework and drawing, the former 


THE PIONEERS. 


181 


executed with great neatness, though of somewhat 
equivocal merit in their designs, while the latter 
were strikingly deficient in both. 

One of the former represented a tomb, with a 
youthful female weeping over it, exhibiting a 
church with arched windows, in the back-ground. 
On the tomb were the names, with the dates of 
the births and deaths, of several individuals, all of 
whom bore the name of Grant. An extremely 
cursory glance at this record, was sufficient to dis- 
cover to the young hunter the domestic state of 
the divine. He there read, that he was a widower, 
and that the innocent and timid maiden, who had 
Deen his companion, was the only surviver of six 
children. The knowledge of the dependence, 
which each of these meek Christians had on the 
other, for happiness, threw an additional charm 
around the gentle, but kind attentions, which the 
daughter paid to the father. 

These observations occurred while the party 
were seating themselves before the cheerful fire, 
during which time there was a suspension of their 
discourse. But when each was comfortably ar- 
ranged, and Louisa, after laying aside a thin coat 
of faded silk, and a gipsy hat, that was more be- 
coming to her modest, ingenuous countenance than 
appropriate to the season, had taken a ehair be- 
tween her father and the youth, the former re- 
sumed the conversation. 

M I trust, my young friend,” he said, £< that the 
education which you have received has eradicated 
most of those revengeful principles, which you may 
have inherited by descent ; for I understand lVom 
the expressions of John, that you have some of 
the blood of the Delaware tribe. Do not mistake 
me, I beg, for it is not colour, nor lineage, that 
constitutes merit; and I know not that he who 
16 


182 


THE PIONEERS 


claims affinity tc the proper owners of this soil, hag 
not the best right to tread these hills with the 
lightest conscience.” 

Mohegan turned solemnly to the speaker, and, 
with the peculiarly significant gestures of an In- 
dian, he spoke : — 

u Father, you are not yet past the summer of 
life; your limbs are young. Goto the highest hill 
and look around you. All that you see, from the 
rising to the setting sun, from the head waters ol 
the great spring, to where the c crooked river’ is 
hid by the hills, is his. He has Delaware blood 
and his right is strong. But the brother of Mi- 
quon is just : he will cut the country in two parts, 
as the river cuts the low-lands, and will say to the 
c Young Eagle,’ Child of the Delawares ! take it — 
Keep it- —and be a chief in the land of your fathers.” 

“ Never !” exclaimed the young hunter, with a 
vehemence that destroyed the rapt attention, with 
which the divine and his daughter were listening 
to the earnest manner of the Indian. M The wolf 
of the forest is not more rapacious for his prey, than 
that man is greedy for gold ; and yet his glidings 
into wealth are as subtle as the movements of a 
serpent.” 

“ Forbear, forbear, my son, forbear,” interrupt- 
ed Mr. Grant. “ These angry passions must be 
subdued. The accidental injury you have received 
from Judge Temple has heightened the sense of 
your hereditary wrongs. But remember that the 
one was unintentional, and that the other is the ef- 
fect of political changes, which have, in their course, 
greatly lowered the pride of kings, and swept 
mighty nations from the face of the earth. Where 
now are the Philistines, who so often held the 
children of Israel in bondage ! or that city of Ba- 
bylon, which rioted in luxury and vice, and who 


THE PIONEERS. 


183 


styled herself the Queen of Nations, in the drunk- 
enness of her pride ? Remember the prayer of 
our holy litany, where we implore the Divine 
Power — “ that it may please thee to forgive our 
enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and to turn 
their hearts.”. The sin of the wrongs which have 
been done to the natives is shared by Judge Tem- 
ple only in common with a whole people, and 
your arm will speedily be restored to its strength.” 

“ This arm !” repeated the youth, scornfully, 
pacing the floor in violent agitation. “ Think you, 
sir, that I believe the man a murderer ? — Oh, no ! 
he is too wily, too cowardly, for such a crime. 
But let him and his daughter riot in their wealth — 
there will a day of retribution come. No, no, no,” 
he continued, as he trod the floor moie calmly — 
w it is for Mohegan to suspect him of such a crime, 
as an intent to injure me : but the trifle is not 
worth a second thought.” 

He seated himself, amkhid his face between his 
hands, as they rested on his knees. 

u It is the hereditary violence of a native’s pas- 
sion, my child,” said Mr. Grant, in a low tone, to 
his affrighted daughter, who was clinging in terror 
to his arm. “ He is mixed with the blood of the 
Indians, you have heard ; and neither the refine- 
ments of education, nor the advantages of our ex- 
cellent liturgy, have been able entirely Jo eradi- 
cate the evil. But care and time will do much foi 
him yet.” 

Although the divine spoke in a low tone, yet 
what he uttered was heard by the youth, who 
raised his head, with a smile of indefinite expres- 
sion, and spoke more calmly. 

“ Be not alarmed, Miss Grant, at eithei the 
wildness of my manner, or that of my dress. 1 
have been carried away by passions, that I should 


184 


THE PIONEERS. 


struggle to repress. I must attribute it, with your 
father, to the blood in my veins, although I would 
not impeach my lineage willingly ; for it is all that 
is left me to boast of. Yes ! I am proud of my 
descent from a Delaware chief, who was a warrior 
that ennobled human nature. Old Mohegan was 
his friend, and will vouch for his virtues.” 

Mr. Grant here took up the discourse, and, find- 
ing the young man more calm, and the aged chief 
attentive, he entered into a full and theological dis- 
cussion of the duty of forgiveness. The conversa- 
tion lasted for more than an hour, when the visit- 
ers arose, and, after exchanging good wishes with 
their entertainers, they departed. At the dooi 
they separated, Mohegan taking the direct route 
to the village, while the youth moved towards the 
lake. The divine stood at the entrance of his 
dwelling, regarding the figure of the aged chief as 
it glided at an astonishing gait, for his years, along 
the deep path ; his black^straight hair just visible 
over the bundle formed by his blanket, which was 
sometimes blended with the snow, under the sil- 
very light of the moon. From the rear of the 
house was a window, that overlooked the lake ; 
and here Louisa was found by her father, when he 
entered, gazing intently on some object in the 
direction of the eastern mountain. He approached 
the spot, and saw the tall figure of the young hunt- 
er, at the distance of half a mile, walking with pro- 
digious steps across the wide fields of frozen snow, 
that covered the ice, towards the point where he 
knew the hut that was inhabited by the Leather- 
stocking was situated on the margin of the lake, 
under a rock, that was crowned by pines and hem- 
locks. At the next instant, the wildly-looking 
form entered the dark shadow, that was cast from 
the overhanging trees, and was lost to view. 


THE PIONEERS. 


185 


“ It is marvellous, how long the propensities of 
the savage continue in that remarkable race,” said 
the good divine ; “ but if he perseveres, as he has 
commence^, his triumph shall yet be complete. 
Remember me, my child, to lend him the homily 
c against peril of idolatry,’ at his next visit.” 

“ Surely, father,” cried the maiden, u you do 
not think him in danger of relapsing into the wor 
ship of his ancestors !” 

a No, my child,” returned the clergyman, laying 
his hand affectionately on her flaxen locks, and 
smiling ; u his white blood would prevent it ; but 
there is such a thing as the idolatry of our pas- 
sions.” 


16 * 


CHAPTER XIII. 


And I’ll drink out of the quart pot, — 
Here’s a health to the barley mow. 

Drinking Song 


On one of the corners, where the two principal 
streets of Templeton intersected each other, stood, 
as we have already mentioned, the inn, that was 
called the u Bold Dragoon.” In the original plan, 
it was ordained that the village should stretch along 
the little stream, that rushed down the valley, and 
the street which led from the lake to the academy, 
was intended to be its western boundary. But 
convenience frequently frustrates the best regu- 
lated plans. The house of Mr., or as, in conse- 
quence of commanding the militia of that vicinity, 
he was called, Captain Hollister, had, at an early 
day, been erected directly facing the main street, 
and ostensibly interposed a barrier to its further 
progress. Horsemen, and subsequently teamsters, 
however, availed themselves of an opening, at the 
end of the building, to shorten their passage west- 
ward, until, in time, the regular highway was laid 
out along this course, and houses were gradually 
built on either side, so as effectually to prevent 
any subsequent correction of the evil. 

There were two material consequences, which 
followed this insidious change in the regular plans 


THE PIONEERS. 


187 


of Marmaduke. The one, that the main-street, af- 
ter running about half its length, was suddenly re- 
duced to precisely that difference m its width; and 
the other, that the u Bold Dragoon” became, next 
to the Mansion-house, by far the most conspicuous 
edifice in the place. 

This conspicuousness, aided by the characters of 
the host and hostess, gave the tavern an advantage 
over all its future competitors, that no circum- 
stances could conquer. An effort was, however, 
made to do so ; and at the corner diagonally oppo- 
site, stood a new building, that was intended by its 
•occupants to look down all opposition. It was a 
house of wood, ornamented in the prevailing style 
of architecture, and, about the roof and balustrades, 
was one of the three imitators of the Mansion- 
house. The upper windows were filled with 
rough boards, secured by nails, to keep out the 
cold air ; for the edifice was far from finished, al- 
though glass was to be seen in the lower apart- 
ments, and the light of the powerful fires within 
denoted that it was already inhabited Th.e ex- 
terior was painted white, on the front and on the 
end which was exposed to the street ; but in the 
rear, and on the side which was intended to join 
the neighbouring house, it was coarsely smeared 
with Spanish brown. Before the door stood two 
lofty posts, connected at the top by a beam, from 
which was suspended an enormous sign, ornament- 
ed around its edges with certain curious carvings 
in pine boards, and on its faces loaded with ma- 
sonic emblems. Over these mysterious figures, 
was written, in large letters, “ The Templeton 
Coffee-House and Traveller’s Hotel,” and be- 
neath them, “ By Habakkuk Foote and Joshua 
Knapp.” This was a fearful rival to the “ Bold 
Dragoon,” as our readers will the more readily per- 


188 


THE PIONEERS. 


ceive, when we add, that the same sonorous names 
were to be seen over the door of a newly erected 
store in the village, a hatter’s shop, and the gates 
of a tan-yard. But, either because too much was 
attempted to be well executed, or that the u Bold 
Dragoon” had established a reputation which could 
not be easily shaken, not only Judge Temple and 
his friends, but most of the villagers also, who 
were not in debt to the powerful firm we have 
named, frequented the inn of Captain Hollister, 
bn all occasions where such a house was necessary. 

On the present evening, the limping veteran, 
and his consort, were hardly housed, after theii* 
return from the academy, when the sounds ot 
stamping feet at their threshold announced the ap- 
proach of visiters, who were probably assembling 
with a view to compare opinions on the subject 
of the ceremonies they had witnessed. 

The public, or, as it was called, the “ bar-room,” 
of the “ Bold Dragoon,” was a spacious apartment, 
lined on three sides with benches, and on the fourth 
by fire-places. Of the latter, there were two, of 
such size as to occupy, with their enormous jambs, 
the whole of that side of the apartment where they 
were placed, excepting room enough for a door or 
two, and a little apartment in one corner, which 
was protected by miniature palisadoes, and pro- 
fusely garnished with bottles and glasses. In the 
entrance to this sanctuary, Mrs. Hollister was 
seated with great gravity in her air, while her 
husband occupied himself with stirring the fires ; 
moving the logs with a large stake, burnt to a point 
at one end. 

“ There, Sargeant dear,” said the landlady, after 
she thought the veteran had got the logs arranged 
in the most judicious manner, “ give over poking 
the fires, for it’s no good yee’ll be doing, now that 


THJE PiOiMJSJ&Kb- 


189 


they burn so convaniently. There’s the glasses 
on the table there, and the mug that the Doctor 
was taking his cider and ginger in, before the fire 
here, — jist put them in the bar, will ye ? for we’ll 
be having the Jooge, and the Major, and Mr. Jones, 
down the night, widout reckoning Benjamin Poomp, 
and the Lawyers : so ye’ll be fixing the room tidy; 
and put both flip-irons in the coals ; and tell Jude, 
the lazy, black baste, that if she’s no be claneing 
up the kitchen, I’ll jist turn her out of the house, 
and she may live wid the jontlemen that kape the 
c Coffee-house,’ good luck to ’em. Och ! Sar- 
•geant, sure it’s a great privilege to go to a mateing, 
where a body can sit asy, widout joomping up and 
down so often, as this Mr. Grant is doing the same.” 

“ It’s a privilege at all times, Mistress Hollister, 
whether we stand or be seated ; or, as good Mr. 
Whitefield used to do, after he had made a weari- 
some day’s inarch, get on our knees and pray, like 
Moses of old, with a flanker to the right and left, 
to lift his hands to heaven,” returned her husband, 
who composedly performed what she had directed 
to be done. “ It was a very pretty fight, Betty, 
that the Israelites had, on that day, with the Ama- 
lekites. It seems that they fout on a plain, for 
Moses is mentioned, as having gone on to the 
heights, to overlook the battle, and wrestle in 
prayer ; and if I should judge, with my little lam- 
ing, the Israelites depended mainly on their horse, 
for it is written, that Joshua cut up the enemy with 
the edge of the sword: from which I infer,. not 
only that they were horse, but well disciplyn’d 
troops. Indeed, it says as much as that they 
were chosen men ; quite likely volunteers ; but 
raw dragoons seldom strike with the edge of their 
swords, particularly if the weapon be any way 
2rooked.” 


190 


THE PIONEERS. 


<c Pshaw ! why do ye bother yc^iseil vvid taxts 
man, about so small a matter,” mtenupted the 
landlady ; “ sure it was the Lord who was wid 
’em ; for he always sided wid the Jews, at first, 
before they fell away ; and it’s but little matter 
what kind of men Joshua commanded, so that he 
was doing the right bidding. Aven them cursed 
millaishy, the Lord forgi’e me for swearing, that 
was the death of him, wid their cowardice, would 
have carried the day in old times. There’s no 
rason to be thinking that the soldiers was used to 
the drill.” 

“ I must say, Mrs. Hollister,” rejoined her hus- 
band, “ that I have not often seen raw troops fight 
better than the left flank of the militia, at the time 
you mention. They rallied very handsomely, and 
that without beat of drum, which is no easy thing 
to do under fire, and were very steady till he fell. 
But the Scriptures contain no unnecessary words; 
and I will maintain, that horse, who know how to 
strike with the edge of the sword, must be well 
disciplyn’d. Many a good sarmon has been preach- 
ed about smaller matters than that one word ! If 
the text was not meant to be particular, why 
wasn’t it written, with the sword, and not with 
the edge ? Now, a back-handed stroke, on the 
edge, takes long practice. Goodness ! what an ar- 
gument wmuld Mr. Whkefield make of that word 
edge ! As to the Captain, if he had only called 
up the guard of dragoons, when he rallied the foot, 
they would have shown the inimy what the edge 
of a sw r ord was ; for, although there was no com- 
missioned officer with them, yet I think I may say,” 
— the veteran continued, stiffening his cravat about 
the throat, and raising himself up, with the air of 
n drill-sergeant, — “they were led by a man, who 
know’d how to bring them on. in suite of the ra- 
vine. 


THE PIONEERS. 


191 


“ Is it lade on ye would ?” cried the landlady, 
u when ye know yourself, Mr. Hollister, that the 
haste he rode was but little able to joomp from one 
ock to another, and the animal was as spry as a 
squirrel ? Och ! but it’s useless to talk, for he’s 
gone this many a long year. I would that he had 
lived to see the true light ; but there’s mercy for a 
brave sowl, that died in the saddle, fighting for the 
liberty. It’s a poor tomb-stone they have given 
him, any way, and many a good one that died like 
himself : but the sign is very like, and I will be 
kapeing it up, while the blacksmith can make a 
hook for it to swing on, for all the c coffee-houses’ 
betwane this and Albany.” 

There is no saying where this desultory conver- 
sation would have led the worthy couple, had not 
the men, who were stamping the snow off* their feet, 
on the little platform before the door, suddenly 
ceased their occupation, and entered the bar-room. 

For ten or fifteen minutes, the different individu 
als, who intended' either to bestow or receive edi- 
fication, before the fires of the “ Bold Dragoon,” 
on that evening, were collecting, until the benches 
were nearly filled with mea of different occupa- 
tions. Dr. Todd, and a slovenly-looking, half-gen- 
teel young man, who took tobacco profusely, wore 
a coat of imported cloth, cut with something like a 
fashionable air, frequently exhibited a large French 
silver watch, with a chain of woven hair, and who, 
altogether, seemed as much above the artisans 
around him, as he was inferior to the real gentle- 
man, — occupied a high-back, wooden settee, in the 
most comfortable corner in the apartment. 

Sundry brown mugs, containing cider or beer, 
were placed between the heavy andirons, and little 
groups were formed among the guests, as subjects 
x rose, or the liquor was passed from one to the 


192 


THE PTONEERS. 


other. No man was seen to drink by himself, no, 
m any instance was more than one vessel consider- 
ed necessary for the same beverage ; but the glass, 
or the mug, was passed from hand to hand, until a 
chasm in the line, or a regard to the rights of own- 
ership would restore the dregs of the potation to 
him who defrayed the cost. 

Toasts were uniformly drunk ; and occasionally 
some one, who conceived himself peculiarly endow 
ed by nature to shine in the way of wit, would at 
.tempt some such sentiment as “ hoping that he’ 
who treated, u might make a better man than hi? 
father or, “ live till all his friends wished him 
dead while the more humble pot-companion con- 
tented himself by saying, with a most imposing 
gravity in his air, * 4 come, here’s luck,” or by ex- 
pressing some other equally comprehensive desire. 
In every instance, the veteran landlord was re- 
quested to imitate the custom of the cup-bearers to 
kings, and taste the liquor he presented, by the 
significant invitation of “ after you is manners 
with which request he ordinarily complied, by wet- 
ting his lips, first expressing the wish of “ here’s 
hoping,” leaving it to the imagination of the hear- 
ers to fill the vacuum by whatever good each thought 
most desirable. During these movements, the land- 
lady was busily occupied with mixing the various 
compounds, required by her customers, with her 
own hands, and occasionally exchanging greetings 
and inquiries concerning the conditions of their re- 
spective families, with such of the villagers as ap- 
proached u the bar.” 

At length the common thirst being m some mea 
sure assuaged, conversation of a more general na- 
ture became the order of the hour. The physician, 
and his companion, who was one of the two law- 
yers of the village, being considered the best quali- 


'1 HE PIONEERS. 


103 


fied to maintain a public discourse with credit, were 
the principal speakers, though a remark was ha- 
zarded, now and then, by Mr. Doolittle, who was 
thought to be their inferior only in the enviable 
point of education. A general silence was pro- 
duced on all but the two speakers, by the follow- 
ing observation from the practitioner of the law : — 
“ So, Dr. Todd, I understand that you have been 
performing an important operation, tins evening, by 
cutting a charge of buck-shot from the sh*. ulder of 
the son of Leather-stocking ?” 

u Yes, sir,” returned the other, elevating nis lit- 
tle head, with an air of great importance. u I had 
a small job up at the Judge’s in that way : it was, 
however, but a trifle to what it might have been, 
had it gone through the body. The shoulder is 
not a very vital part ; and I think *the young 
man will soon be well. But 1 did not know that 
the patient was a son of Leather-stocking : it is 
news to me, to hear that Natty had a wife.” 

u It is by no means a necessary consequence,” 
returned the other, winking with a shrewd look 
around the bar-room ; “ there is such a thing, I 
suppose you know, in law, as a c Alius nullius.’ ” 

“ Spake it out, man,” exclaimed the landlady , 
“ spake it out in king’s English ; what for should 
ye be talking Indian, in a room full of Christian 
folks, though it is about a poor hunter, who is but 
a little better in his ways than the wild savages 
themselves ? Och ! it’s to be hoped that the mis- 
sionaries will, in his own time, make a convarsion 
of the poor divils ; and then it will matter but lit- 
tle, of what colour is the skin, or wedder there be 
wool or hair on the head.” 

“ Oh! it is Latin, not Indian, Miss Hollister,” 
returned the lawyer, repeating his winks and shrewd 
looks : u and Dr. Todd understands Latin, or how 
17 


i 94 


THE PIONEERS. 


would he read the labels on his gallipots and draw- 
ers ? — No, no, Miss Hollister, the Doctor under- 
stands me ; don’t you, Doctor ?” 

“ Hem — why I guess I am not far out of the 
way,” returned Elnathan, endeavouring to imitate 
the expression of the other’s countenance, by look- 
ing jocular ; u Latin is a queer language, gentle- 
men ; — now I rather guess there is no one in the 
room except Squire Lippet, who can believe that 
‘ Far. Av.’ means oatmeal, in English.” 

The lawyer in his turn was a good deal embar- 
rassed by this display of learning ; for, although he 
actually had taken his first degree at one of the 
eastern universities, he was somewhat puzzled 
with the terms used by his companion. It was 
dangerous, however, to appear to be out-done in 
learning in public bar-room, and before so many 
of his clients ; he therefore put the best face on 
the matter, and laughed knowingly, as if there 
were a good joke concealed under it, that was un- 
derstood only by the physician and himself. All 
this w r as attentively observed by the listeners, who 
exchanged looks of approbation ; and the expres- 
sions of u tonguey man,” and “ I guess Squire Lip- 
pet knows, if any body doos,” were heard in dif- 
ferent parts of the room, as vouchers for the admi- 
ration of his auditors. Thus encouraged, the law- 
yer rose from his chair, and turning his back to 
the fire, facing the company, he continued — 

“ The son of Natty, or the son of nobody, I 
hope the young man is not going to let the matter 
drop. This is a country of laws ; and I should 
like to see it fairly tried, whether a man who owns, 
or says he owns, a hundred thousand acres of land, 
has any more right to shoot a body, than another. 
What do you think of it, Dr. Todd ?” 

‘ l Oh ! sir, I am of opinion that the gentleman 


THE PIONEERS. 


195 


will soon be well, as I said before ; the wownd isn’t 
in a vital part ; and as the ball was extracted so 
soon, and the shoulder was what I call well attend- 
ed to, I do not think there is as much danger as 
there might have been.” 

“ I say, Squire Doolittle,” continued the angry 
attorney, “ you are a magistrate, and know what is 
law, and what is not law. I ask you, sir, if shoot- 
ing a man is a thing that is to be settled so very 
easily ? Suppose, sir, that the young man had a 
wife and family ; and suppose that he was a me- 
chanic, like yourself, sir ; and suppose that his fa- 
mily depended on him for bread ; and suppose that 
the ball, instead of merely going through the flesh, 
had broken the shoulder-blade, and crippled him 
for ever; — I ask you all, gentlemen, supposing this 
to be the case, whether a jury wouldn’t give what 
I call handsome damages ?” 

As the close of this supposititious case was ad- 
dressed to the company, generally, Hiram did not, 
at first, consider himself called on for a reply ; but 
finding the eyes of the listeners bent on him in ex- 
pectation, he remembered his character for judicial 
discrimination, and spoke, observing a due degree 
of deliberation and dignity in his manner. 

u Why, if a man should shoot another,” he saiu, 
w and if he should do it on purpose, and if the law 
took notice on’t, and if a jury should find him 
guilty, it would be likely to turn out a state-prise n 
matter.” 

“ It would so, sir,” returned the attorney. — 
w The law, gentlemen, is no respecter of persons, 
in a free country. It is one of the great blessings 
that has been handed down to us from our ances- 
tors, that all men are equal in the eye of the law 
as they are by nater T Though some may get pro- 
perty, no one knows how, yet they are not privi 


196 


THE PIONEERS. 


leged to transgress the laws, any more than the 
poorest citizen in the state. This is my notion, 
gentlemen; and I think that if a man had a mind 
to bring this matter up, something might be made 
out of it, that would help pay for the salve — ha 1 
Doctor?” 

“ Why sir,” returned the physician, who appear- 
ed a little uneasy at the turn the conversation was 
taking, u I have the promise of Judge Temple, be- 
fore men — not but what I would take his word as 
soon as his note of hand — but it was before men. 
Let me see — there was Mounshier Ler Quow, and 
Squire Jones, and Major Hartmann, and Miss Pet- 
tibone, and one or two of the blacks by, when he 
said that his pocket w r ould amply reward me for 
what I did.” 

“ Was the promise made before or after the ser- 
vice w^as performed ?” asked the attorney. 

“ It might have been both,” returned the dis- 
creet physician ; “ though Pm certain he said so, 
before I undertook the dressing.” 

“ But it seems that he said his poeket should re- 
ward you, Doctor,” observed Hiram. “ Now 1 
don’t know r that the law will hold a man to such a 
promise ; he might give you his pocket with six- 
pence in’t, and tell you to take your pay out on’t.” 

“ That would not be a reward in the eye of the 
law,” interrupted the attorney — u not what is call- 
ed a c quid pro quo nor is the pocket to be con- 
sidered as an agent, but as part of a man’s ow n 
person, that is, in this particular. I am of opinion 
that an action would lie on that promise, and I will 
undertake to bear him out, free of costs, if he don’t 
recover.” 

To this proposition the physician made no reply , 
but he was observed to cast his eyes around him, 
as if to enumerate the witnesses, in order to sub- 


THE PIONEERS. 107 

stantiate this promise also, at a future day, should 
it prove necessary. A subject so momentous, as 
that of suing Judge Temple, was not very palatable 
to the present company, in so public a place ; and 
short silence ensued, that was only interrupted 
by the opening of the door, and the entrance of 
Natty himself. 

The old hunter carried in his hand his never- 
fading companion, his rifle ; and although all of the 
company were uncovered, excepting the lawyer, 
who wore his hat on one side, with a certain know- 
ing air, Natty moved to the front of one of the 
fires, without in the least altering any part of his 
dress or appearance. Several questions were ad- 
dressed to him, on the subject of the game he had 
killed, which he answered readily, and with some 
little interest ; and the landlord, between whom 
and Natty there existed much cordiality, on ac- 
count of their both having been soldiers in their 
youth, offered him a glass of a liquid, which, if we 
might judge from its reception, was no unwelcome 
guest. When the forester had gotten his potation 
also, he quietly took his seat on the end of one of 
the logs, that lay nigh to the fires, and the slight 
interruption, produced by his entrance, seemed to 
be forgotten. 

u The testimony of the blacks could not be 
taken, sir,” continued the lawyer, “ for they are 
all the property of Mr. Jones, who owns their 
time. But there is a way by which Judge Tern 
pie, or any other man, might be made to pay foi 
shooting another, and for the cure in the bargain. 
—There is a way, I say, and that without going 
into the c court of errors’ too.” 

“ And a mighty big error ye would make of it, 
Mister Todd,” cried the landlady, “ should ye be 
putting the matter into the law at all, with Joodge 
17 * 


198 


THE PIONEERS. 


Temple, who has a purse as long as one of them 
pines on the hill, and who is an asy man to dale 
wid, if yees but mind the humour of him. He’s a 
good man is Joodge Temple, and a kind one, and 
one who will be no the likelier to do the pratty 
thing, bekaase ye would wish to tarri fy him wid 
the law. I know of but one objaction to the same, 
which is an over-carelessness about his sowl. It’s 
nather a Methodie, nor a Papish, nor Prasbetyrian, 
that he is, but jist nothing at all : and it’s hard to 
think that he, 4 who will not fight the good fight, 
under the banners of a rig’lar church, in this world, 
will be mustered among the chosen in heaven,’ as 
my husband, the Captain there, as ye call him, 
says — though there is but one captain that I know, 
who desaarves the name. I hopes, Lather-stock 
ing, ye’ll no be foolish, and putting the boy up to 
try the law in the matter ; for ’twill be an evil day 
to ye both, when ye first turn the skin of so pace- 
able an animal as a sheep into a bone of conten- 
tion. The lad is wilcome to his drink for nothing, 
until his shouther will bear the rifle ag’in.” 

u Well, that’s gin’rous,” was heard from several 
mouths at once, at this liberal offer of the landlady ; 
while the hunter, instead of expressing any of that 
indignation which he might be supposed to feel, at 
hearing the hurt of his young companion alluded 
to, opened his mouth, with the silent laugh for 
which he was so remarkable ; and after he had in- 
dulged his humour, made this reply — 

u I know’d the Judge would do nothing with his 
smooth-bore, when he got out of his sleigh. I ne- 
ver see’d but one smooth-bore, that would carry 
at all, and that was a French ducking-piece, upon 
the big lakes : it had a barrel half as long ag’in as 
my rifle, and would throw fine shot into a goose, 
pt a hundred yards ; but it made dreadful work 


THE PIONEERS. 


199 


ivith the game, and you wanted a boat to carry it 
about in. When I went with Sir William ag’in the 
French, at Fort Niagara, all the rangers used the 
rifle ; and a dreadful weapon it is, in the hands of 
one who knows how to charge it, and keeps a 
steady aim. The Captain knows, for he says he 
was a soldier in Shirley’s, and though they were 
nothing but baggonet-men, he must know how we 
cut up the French and Iroquois in the skrimmages, 
in that war. Chingachgook, which means ‘ Big 
Sarpent’ in English, old John Mohegan, who lives 
up at the hut with me, was a great warrior then, 
and was out with us ; he can tell all about it, too ; 
though he was an overhand for the tomahawk, ne- 
ver firing more than once or twice, before he was 
running in for the scalps. Ah ! hum ! times is 
dreadfully altered since then. Why, Doctor, there 
was nothing but a foot path, or at the most a track 
for pack-horses, along the Mohawk, from the Gar- 
man Flats clean up to the forts. Now, they say, 
they talk of running one of them wide roads with 
gates on’t along the river ; first making a road, and 
then fencing it up ! I hunted one season back of 
the Kaatskills, nigh-hand to the settlements, and 
the dogs often lost the scent, when they corn’d to 
them highways, there was so much travel on them ; 
though I can’t sav that the brutes was of a very 
good breed. Old Hector will wind a deer in the 
fall of the year, across the broadest place in the 
Otsego, and that is a mile and a half, for I paced it 
myself on the ice, when the tract was first surveyed 
under the Indian grant.” 

“ It sames to me, Natty, but a sorry compli- 
ment, to call your comrad after the evil one,” said 
the landlady ; “ and it’s no much like a snake that 
old John is looking now. Nimrood would be a more 
hesam ; ug name for the lad, and a more Christian too. 


200 


THE PIONEERS. 


seeing that it comes from the Bihle. The sargeam 
read me the chapter about him, the night before 
my christening, and a mighty asement it was, to 
listen to any thing from the book.” 

“ Old John and Chingachgook were very differ- 
ent men to look on,” returned the hunter, shaking 
his head at his melancholy recollections. — “ In the 
4 fifty-eighth war , 1 he was in the middle of man- 
hood, and was taller than now by three inches. If 
you had seen him, as I did, the morning we beat 
Dieskau, from behind our log walls, you would 
have called him as comely a red-skin as ye ever 
set eyes on. He was naked, all to his breech- 
cloth and leggens ; and you never seed a createi 
so handsomely painted. One side of his face was 
red, and the other black. His head was shaved 
clean, all to a few hairs on the crown, where he 
wore a tuft of eagle’s feathers, as bright as if they 
had come from a peacock’s tail. He had coloured 
his sides,, so that they looked just like an atomy, 
ribs and all ; for Chingachgook had a great notion 
in such things : so that, what with his bold, fiery 
countenance, his knife, and his tomahawk, I have 
never seed a fiercer warrior on the ground. He 
played his part, too, like a man ; for I seen him 
next day, with thirteen scalps or his pole. And I 
will say that for the ‘ Big Snake,’ that he always 
dealt fair, and never scalped any that he didn 1 * 
kill with his own hands.” 

u Well, well,” cried the landlady ; “ fighting is 
fighting, any way, and there is different fashions in 
the thing ; though I can’t say that I relish mangling 
a body after the breath is out of it ; neither do I 
think it can be uphild by doctrine. I hope, sar- 
geant, ye niver was helping in sich evil worrek.” 

“ It was my duty to keep my ranks, and to stand 
>r fall by the baggonet or lead,” returned the veto- 


THE PIONEERS. 


201 


ran. “ I was then in the fort, and, seldom leaving 
my place, saw but little of the savages, who kept 
on the flanks, or in front, skrimmaging. I remem- 
ber, howsomever, to have heard mention made of 
the £ Great Snake,’ as he was called, for he was a 
chief of renown ; but little did I ever expect to see 
him enlisted in the cause of Christianity, and civi- 
lized like old John.” 

“ Oh ! he was christianized by the Moravians, 
who was always over intimate with the Dela- 
wares,” said Leather-stocking. “ It’s my opinion, 
that, had they been left to themselves, there would 
be no such doings now, about the head waters of 
the two rivers, and that these hills mought have 
been kept as good hunting-ground, by their right 
owner, who is not too old to carry a rifle, and 
whose sight is as true as a fish-hawk, hovering” — 

He was interrupted by more stamping at the 
door, and presently the party from the Mansion 
house entered, followed by the Indian himself. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


There’# quart pot, pint pot, half-pint, 

Gill pot, half-gill, nippcrkin, 

And the brown bowl — 

Here’s a health to the barley mow, 

My brave boys, 

Here’s a health to the barley mow. 

Drinking Song. 


Some little commotion was produced by the ap- 
pearance of the new guests, during which the law- 
yer disappeared from the room. Most of the men 
approached Marmaduke, and shook his offered 
hand, hoping “ that the Judge was well while 
Major Hartmann, having laid aside his hat and wig, 
and substituted for the latter a warm, peaked, wool- 
len night-cap, took his seat very quietly on one end 
of the settee, which was relinquished by its former 
occupants. His tobacco-box was next produced, 
and a clean pipe was handed him by the landlord. 
When he had succeeded in raising a smoke, the 
Major gave a long whiff, and, turning his head to- 
wards the bar, he said — 

M Petty, pring in ter toddy.” 

In the mean time, the Judge had exchanged his 
salutations with most of the company, and taken a 
place by the side of the Major, and Richard had 
bustled himself into the most comfortable seat in 


THE PIONEERS. 


203 


the room. Mr. Le Quoi was the last seated, nor 
did he venture to place his chair finally, until, by 
frequent removals, he had ascertained that he could 
not possibly intercept a ray of heat from any indi- 
vidual present. Mohegan found a place on an end 
of one of the benches, and somewhat approximated 
to the bar. When these movements had subsided, 
the Judge remarked, pleasantly — 

c< Well, Betty, I find you retain your popularity, 
through all weathers, against all rivals, and among 
all religions. — How liked you the sermon ?” 

“ Is it the sarmon ?” exclaimed the landlady. 
' £ I can’t say but it was rasonable ; but the prayers 
is mighty unasy. It’s no so small a matter for a 
body, in their fifty-nint’ year, to be moving so 
much in church. Mr. Grant sames a godly man, 
any way, and his garrel is a hoomble one, and a 
devout. — Here, John, is a mug of cider lac’d with 
whisky. An Indian will drink cider, though he 
niver be athirst.” 

“ I must say,” observed Hiram, with due deli- 
beration, “ that it was a tonguey thing ; and I ra- 
ther guess that it gave considerable satisfaction. 
There was one part, though, which might have 
been left out, or something else put in ; but then, 
I s’pose that, as it was a written discourse, it is not 
so easily altered, as where a minister preaches 
without notes.” 

“ Ay ! there’s the rub, Joodge,” cried the land- 
lady. “ How can a man stand up and be praching 
his word, when all that he is saying is written 
down, and he is as much tied to it as iver a thaving 
dragoon was to the pickets ?” 

“ Well, well,” cried Marmaduke, waving his 
nand for silence, “ there is enough said ; as Mr. 
Grant told us, there are different sentiments on 
such subjects, and in my opinion he spoke most 


204 


'flkE PIONEURS. 


sensibly. — So, Jotham, I am told you have sold 
your betterments to a new settler, and have moved 
into the village and opened a school. Was it cash 
or dicker ?” 

The man who was thus addressed occupied a 
seat immediately behind Marmaduke ; and one, 
who was ignorant of the extent of the Judge’s ob- 
servation, might have thought he would have es- 
caped notice. — He was of a thin, shapeless figure, 
with a discontented expression of countenance, and 
with something extremely shiftless in his whole 
air. Thus spoken to, after turning and twisting a 
little, by way of preparation, he made a reply. 

u Why, part cash, and part dicker. I sold out 
to a Pumfret-man, who was so’thin forehanded. 
He was to give me ten dollars an acre for the 
clearin, and one dollar an acre over the first cost, 
on the wood- land; and we agreed to leave the 
buildins to men. So I tuck Asa Mountagu, and he 
tuck Absalom Bement, and they two tuck old 
Squire Naphtali Green. And so they had a 
meetin, and made out a vardict of eighty dollars 
for the buildins. There was twelve acres of clear- 
in, at ten dollars, and eighty-eight at one, and the 
whull came to jist two hundred and eighty-six dol- 
lars and a half, after paying the men.” 

“ Hum,” said Marmaduke : u what did you give 
for the place ?” 

w Why, besides what’s comin to the Judge, 1 
gi’n my brother Tim a hundred dollars for his bar- 
gain ; but then there’s a new house on’t, that cost 
me sixty more, and I paid Moses a hundred dollars, 
for choppin, and loggin, and so win ; so that the 
whull stood me in about two hundred and sixty 
dollars. But then I had a great crop off on’t, and 
as I got jist twenty-six dollars and a half more than 
«t cost, I conclude I made a pretty good trade on’t.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


205 


“ Yes, but you forgot that the crop was yours 
without the trade, and you have turned yourself 
out of doors for twenty-six dollars.” 

“.Oh! the Judge is clean out,” said the man, 
with a look of sagacious calculation ; “ he turned 
out a span of horses, that is wuth a hundred and 
fifty dollars of any man’s money, with a bran new 
wagon ; fifty dollars in cash ; and a good note for 
eighty more ; and a side saddle that was valood at 
seven and a half — so there was jist twelve shillings 
betwixt us. I wanted him to turn out a set of har- 
ness, and take the cow and the sap-troughs. He 
wouldn’t — but I saw through it ; he thought I 
should have to buy the tacklin afore I could use 
the wagon and horses ; but I know’d a thing or two 
myself ; I should like to know of what use is the 
tacklin to him ! I offered him to trade back ag’in, 
for one hundred and fifty-five. But my woman 
said she wanted a churn, so I tuck a churn for the 
change.” 

“ And what do you mean to do with your time 
this winter ? you must remember that time is mo- 
ney.” 

“ Why, as the master is gone down country, to 
see his mother, who, they say, is going to make a 
die on’t, I agreed to take the school in hand, till 
he comes back. If times doosn’t get wuss in the 
spring, I’ve some notion of going into trade, or 
maybe I may move off to the Genessee ; they say 
they are carryin on a great stroke of business that- 
a-way. If the wust comes to the wust, I can but 
work at my trade, for I was brought up in a shoe 
manufactory.” 

It would seem, that Marmaduke did not think 
his society of sufficient value, to attempt inducing 
him to remain where he was ; for he addressed no 
further discourse to the man, but turned his atten 

T8 


THE PIONEERS. 


20(> 

tion to other subjects. — After a short pause, Hiram 
ventured a question : — 

u What news does the Judge bring us from the 
legislater ? it’s not likely that congress has done 
much this session ; or maybe the French haven’t 
fit any more battles lately ?” 

u The French, since they have beheaded their 
king, have done nothing but fight,” returned the 
judge . — u The character of the nation sterns 
changed. I knew many French gentlemen, during 
our war, and they all appeared to me to be men 
of great humanity and goodness of heart ; but 
these Jacobins are as blood-thirsty as bull-dogs.” 

“ There was one Roshambow wid us, down at 
Yorrek-town,” cried the landlady ; “ a mighty 
pratty man he was, too ; and their horse was the 
very same. It was there that the Sargeant got 
the hurt in the leg, from the English batteries, bad 
uck to ’em.” 

“ Ah ! raon pauvre Roi !” murmured Monsieur 
Le Quoi. 

“ The legislature have been passing laws,” con- 
tinued Marmaduke, “ that the country much re- 
quired. Among others, there is an act, prohibit- 
ing the drawing of seines, at any other than pro- 
per seasons, in certain of our streams and small 
lakes ; and another, to prohibit the killing of deer 
in the teeming months. These are laws that were 
loudly called for, by judicious men ; nor do I de- 
spair of getting an act, to make the unlawful felling 
of timber a criminal offence.” 

The hunter listened to this detail with breath- 
less attention, and when the Judge had ended, he 
laughed in open derision for a moment, before he 
made this reply : — 

“ You may make your laws, Judge, but who 
will you find to watch the mountains through the 


THE PIONEERS. 


20 ; 

long summer days, or the lakes at night ? Game 
is game, and he who finds may kill ; that has been 
the law in these mountains for forty years, to my 
sartain knowledge ; and I think one old law is 
worth two new ones. None but a green-one 
would wish to kill a doe with a fa’n by its side, 
unless his moccasins was gettin old, or his leggins 
ragged, for the flesh is lean and coarse. But a rifle 
rings among them rocks along the lake shore, 
sometimes, as if fifty pieces were fired at once : — 
it would be hard to tell where the man stood who 
pulled the trigger.” 

“ Armed with the dignity of the law, Mr. Bump- 
po,” returned the Judge, gravely, “ a vigilant ma- 
gistrate can prevent much of the evil that has 
hitherto prevailed, and which is already rendering 
the game scarce. I hope to live to see the day, 
when a man’s rights in his game shall be as much 
respected as his title to his farm.” 

“ Your titles and your farms are all new to- 
gether,” cried Natty ; “ but laws should be equal, 
and not more for one than another. I shot a deer, 
last Wednesday was a fortnight, and it floundered 
through the snow-banks till it got over a brush 
fence ; I catch’d the lock of my rifle in the twigs, 
in following, and was kept back, until finally the 
creater got off. Now I want to know who is to 
pay me for that deer ; and a fine buck it was. If 
there hadn’t been a fence, I should have gotten 
another shot into it ; and I never draw’d upon any 
thing that hadn’t wings three times running, in my 
born days. — No, no, Judge, it’s the farmers that 
makes the game scearce, and not the hunters.” 

“ Ter teer is not so plenty as in ter old war, 
Pumppo,” said the Major, who had been an atten- 
tive listener, amidst clouds of smok 1 ; “ put ter lani 


208 


THE PIONEERS. 


is not mate as for ter teer to live on, put for 
Christians.” 

“ Why, Major, I believe you’re a friend to jus 
tice and the right, though you go so often to the 
grand house ; but it’s a hard case to a man, to have 
his honest calling for a livelihood stopt by sitch 
iaws, and that too when, if right was done, he 
mought hunt or fish on any day in the week, or 
on the best flat in the Patent, if he was so minded.” 

“ I unterstant you, Letter-stockint,” returned 
the Major, fixing his black eyes, with a look of 
peculiar meaning, on the hunter ; “ put you tidn’t 
use to be so prutent, as to look ahet mit so much 
care.” 

“ Maybe there wasn’t so much ’casion,” said 
the hunter, a little sulkily ; when he sunk into a 
profound silence, from which he was not roused 
for some time. 

“ The Judge was saying so’thin about the 
French,” Hiram observed, when the pause in the 
conversation had continued a decent time. 

“ Yes, sir,” returned Marmaduke, “ the Jacobins 
of France seem rushing from one act of licentious- 
ness to another. They continue those murders^ 
which are dignified by the name of executions. 
You have heard, that they have added the death 
of their Queen to the long list of their crimes.” 

“ Les Betes !” again murmured Monsieur Le 
Quoi, turning himself suddenly in his chair, with 
a convulsive start. 

“The province of La Vendee is laid waste by 
the troops of the republic, and hundreds of its in- 
habitants, who are royalists in their sentiments, 
are shot at a time. — La Vendee is a district in the 
southwest of France, that continues yet much at- 
tached to the family of the Bourbons ; doubtless 


THE PIONEERS. 


30ft 


Monsieur Le Quoi is acquainted with it, and can 
describe it more faithfully.” 

“ Non, non, non, mon cher ami,” returned the 
Frenchman, in a suppressed voice, but speaking 
rapidly, and gesticulating with his right hand, as 
if for mercy, while with his left he concealed his 
eyes. 

C£ There have been many battles fought lately,” 
continued Marmaduke, u and the infuriated repub- 
licans are too often victorious. I cannot say, how- 
ever, that I am sorry they have captured Toulon 
from the English, for it is a place to which they 
seem to have a just right.” 

“ Ah — ha !” exclaimed Monsieur Le Quoi, 
springing on his feet, and flourishing both arms 
with great animation ; “ ces Anglais ! dey be vipt ! 
De French be one gallant peop’, if dere vas gen’ral 
Ah — ha ! Toulon take ; c’est bon ! I do vish da t 
dey take Londre — pardonnez moi ; mais, it ee? 
bon !” 

The Frenchman continued to move about the 
room with great alacrity for a few minutes, repeat- 
ing his exclamations to himself ; when, overcome 
by the contradictory nature of his emotions, he 
suddenly burst out of the house, and was seen 
wading through the snow towards his little shop, 
waving his arms on high, as if to pluck down ho- 
nour from the moon. His departure excited but 
little surprise, for the villagers were used to his 
manner ; but Major Hartmann laughed outright, 
for the first time during his visit, as he lifted the 
mug, and observed — 

“ Ter Frenchman is mat — put he is goot as for 
potting to trink ; he is trunk mit joy.” 

“ The French are good soldiers,” said Captain 
Hollister ; “ they stood us in hand a good turn, 
down at York- town ; nor do I think, although I am 
18 * 


210 


THE PIONEERS. 


an ignorant man about the great movements of the 
army, that his Excellency would have been able to 
march against Cornwallis, without their reinforce- 
ments ” 

u Ye spake the trut’, Sargeant,” interrupted his 
wife, “ and I would iver have ye be doing the same. 
It’s varry pratty men is the French ; and jist when 
I stopt the cart, the time when ye was pushing on 
in front it was, to kape the rig’lers in, a rigiment 
of the jontlemen marched by, and so I dealt them 
out to their liking. Was it pay I got ? sure did 1, 
and in good solid crowns : the divil a bit of conti- 
nental could they muster among them all, for love 
nor money. Och ! the Lord forgive me for swear- 
ing, and spakeing of sich vanities : but this I will say 
for the French, that they paid in good silver ; and 
one glass would go a great way wid ’em, for they 
gin’rally handed it back wid a drop in the cup ; and 
that’s a brisk trade, Joodge, where the pay is good, 
and the men not over partic’lar.” 

u A thriving trade, Mrs. Hollister,” said Marma- 
duke. tc But what has become of Richard ? he 
jumped up as soon as seated, and has been absent 
so long that I am fearful he has frozen.” 

“ No fear of that, cousin ’duke,” cried the gen- 
tleman himself ; “ business will sometimes keep a 
man warm, the coldest night that ever snapt in the 
mountains. Betty, your husband told me, as we 
came out of church, that your hogs were getting 
mangy, so I have been out to take a look at them, 
and found it true. I stepped across, Doctor, and 
got your boy to weigh me out a pound of salts, and 
have been mixing it with their swill. I’ll bet a 
saddle of venison against a gray squirrel, that they 
are better in a week. And now, Mrs. Hollister, 
I’m ready for a hissing mug of flip.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


211 


,c Sure, I know’d yee’d be wanting that same,” 
said the landlady ; “ it’s mixt and ready to the 
boiling. Sargeant, dear, jist be handing up the 
iron, will ye ? — no, the one in the far fire, it’s black, 
ye will see. — Ah ! you’ve the thing now ; look it 
it’s not as red as a cherry.” 

The beverage was heated, and Richard took that 
kind of draught which men are apt to indulge in, 
who think that they have just executed a clever 
thing, especially when they like the liquor. 

“ Oh ! you have a hand, Betty, that was formed 
to mix flip,” cried Richard, when he paused for 
breath. u The very iron has a flavour in it. Here, 
John, drink, man, drink. I and you and Dr. Todd, 
have done a good thing with the shoulder of that 
lad this very night. ’Duke, I made a song while 
you were gone — one day when I had nothing to 
do ; so I’ll sing you a verse or two, though I haven’t 
really determined on the tune yet : — 


What is life but a scene of care, 

Where each one must toil in his way ! 
Then let us be jolly, and prove that we are 
A set of good fellows, who seem very rare, 
And can laugh and sing all the day 
Then let us be jolly, 

And cast away folly, 

For grief turns a black head to gray. 


There, ’duke, what do you think of that ? There 
is another verse of it, all but the last line. I 
haven’t got a rhyme for the last line yet. — Well, 
old John, what do you think of the music ? as good 
as one of your war songs, ha ?” 

“ Good,” said Mohegan, who had been sharing 
too deeply in the potations of the landlady, besides 
paying a proper respect to the passing mugs of the 
Major and Marmaduke. 


212 


THE PIONEERS. 


“ Pravo ! pravo ! Richart,” cried the Major, 
whose black eyes were beginning to swim in mois- 
ture ; “ pravissimo ! it is a goot song ; put Natty 
Pumppo hast a petter. Letter-stockint, vilt sing ? 
say, olt poy, vilt sing ter song, as apout ter woots ?” 

u No, no, Major,” returned the hunter, with a 
melancholy shake of the head, “ I have lived to see 
what I thought eyes could never behold in these 
hills, and I have no heart left for singing. If he, 
that has a right to be master and ruler here, is 
forced to squinch his thirst, when a-dry, with snow- 
' water, it ill becomes them that have lived by his 
bounty to be making merry, as if there was no- 
thing in the world but sunshine and summer.” 

When he had spoken, Leather-stocking again 
dropped his head on his knees, and concealed his 
hard and wrinkled features with his hands. The 
change from the excessive cold without to the heat 
*bf the bar-room, coupled with the depth and fre- 
quency of Richard’s draughts, had already levelled 
whatever inequality there might have existed be 
tween him and the other guests, on the score of 
spirits ; and he now held Out a pair of swimming 
mugs of foaming flip towards the hunter, as he 
cried — 

u Merry ! ay ! merry Christmas to you, old boy ! 
Sunshine and summer ! no ! you are blind, Leather- 
stocking, ’tis moonshine and winter ; — take these 
spectacles, and open your eyes — 

So let us be jolly, 

And cast away folly, 

For grief turns a black head to gray. 

c£ Hear how old John turns his quavers. What 
damned dull music an Indian song is, after all, Ma- 
jor. I wonder if they ever sing by note.” 

While Richard was singing and talking, Mohe- 
gan was uttering dull, monotonous tones, keeping 


THE PIONEERS. 


213 


•time ny a gentle motion of his head and body. He 
made use of but few words, and such as he did ut- 
ter were in his native language and consequently 
only understood by himself and Natty. Without 
heeding Richard, he continued to sing a kind of 
wild, melancholy air, that rose, at times, in sudden 
and quite elevated notes, and then fell again into 
the low, quavering sounds, that seemed to com- 
pose the character of his music. 

The attention of the company was now much di- 
vided, the men in the rear having formed them- 
selves into little groups, where they were dis 
cussing various matters ; among the principal of 
which were, the treatment of mangy hogs, and 
Parson Grant’s preaching ; while Dr. Todd was 
endeavouring to explain to Marmaduke the nature 
of the hurt received by the young hunter. Mohe- 
gan continued to sing, while his countenance was 
becoming vacant, though, coupled with his thick 
bushy hair, it was assuming an expression very 
much like brutal ferocity. His notes were gradu- 
ally growing louder, and soon rose to a height that 
caused a general cessation in the discourse. The 
hunter now raised his head again, and addressed 
the old warrior, warmly, in the Delaware language, 
which, for the benefit of our readers, we shall ren- 
der freely into English. 

« Why do you sing of your battles, Chingach- 
gook, and of the warriors you have slain, when the 
worst enemy of all is near you, and keeps the 
Young Eagle from his rights ? I have fought in as 
many battles as any warrior in your tribe, but can 
not boast of my deeds at such a time as tins.” 

a Hawk-eye,” said the Indian, tottering with a 
doubtful step from his place, “ I am the Great 
Snake of the Delawares ; I can track the Mingoes, 
like an adder that is stealing on the whip-poor-will’s 


214 


THE FIONEEJtS. 


eggs, and strike them, like the rattlesnake, dead at 
a blow. The white man made the tomahawk of 
Chingachgook bright as the waters of Otsego, when 
the last sun is shining ; but it is red with the blood 
:>f the Maquas.” 

u And why have you slain the Mingo warriors ? 
Was it not to keep these hunting grounds and lakes 
to your father’s children ? and were they not given 
in solemn council to the Fire-eater ? and does not 
the blood of a warrior run in the veins of a young 
chief, who should speak aloud, where his voice is 
now too low to be heard ?” 

The appeal of the hunter seemed, in some mea- 
sure, to recall the confused faculties of the Indian, 
who turned his face towards the listeners, and gazed 
intently on the Judge. He^hook his head, throw- 
ing his hair back from his countenance, and ex- 
posed his eyes, that were glaring with a fierce ex- 
pression of wild resentment. But the man was nol 
himself. His hand seemed to make a fruitless ef- 
fort to release his tomahawk, which was confined 
by its handle to his belt, while his eyes gradually 
became again vacant. Richard at that instant 
thrusting a mug before him, his features changed 
to the grin of idiocy, and seizing the vessel with 
both hands, he sunk backward on the bench, and 
drank until satiated, when he made an effort to lay 
aside the mug, with the helplessness of total ine- 
briety. 

u Shed not blood !” exclaimed the hunter, as he 
watched the countenance of the Indian in its mo- 
ment of ferocity — “ but he is drunk, and can do no 
harm. This is the way with all the savages ; give 
them liquor, and they make dogs of themselves. 
Well, well — the time will come when right will be 
done ; and we must have patience.” 

Natty still spoke in the Delaware language, and 


THE PIONEERS. 21 !) 

of course was not understood. He had hardly con- 
cluded, before Richard cried — 

u Well, old John is soon sowed up. Give him 
a birth, Captain, in the barn, and I will pay for it. 
I am rich to-night, ten times richer than ’duke, 
with all his lands, and military lots, and funded 
debts, and bonds, and mortgages. 

Come let us be jolly, 

And cast away folly, 

For grief 

Drink, King Hiram — drink, Mr. Doo-nothing — 
drink, sir, I say. This is a Christmas eve, which 
comes, you know, but once a year.” 

u He ! he ! he ! the Squire is quite moosical to- 
night,” said Hiram, whose visage began to give 
marvellous signs of relaxation. “ I rather guess 
we shall make a church on’t yet, Squire ?” 

“ A church, Mr. Doolittle ! we will make a ca- 
thedral of it! bishops, priests, deacons, wardens, 
vestry, and choir ; organ, organist, and bellows ! 
By the lord Harry, as Benjamin says, we will clap 
a steeple on the other end of it, and make two 
churches of it. What say you, ’duke, will you pay ? 
ha ! my cousin Judge, wilt pay ?” 

u Thou makest such a noise, Dickon,” returned 
Marmaduke, “ it is impossible that I can hear what 
Dr. Todd is saying. — I think thou observedst, it is 
probable that the wound will fester, so as to occa- 
sion danger to the limb, in this cold weather ?” 

M Out of nater, sir, quite out of nater;” said El- 
nathan, attempting to expectorate, but succeeding 
only in throwing a light, frothy substance, like a 
Hake of snow, into the fire — “ quite out of nater, 
that a wownd so well dressed, and with the ball 
in my pocket, should fester. I s’pose, as the Judge 
talks of taking the young man into his house, it will 


216 


THE PIONEERS. 


be most convenient if I make but one charge 
on’t” 

“ I should think one would do,” returned Mar- 
maduke, with that arch smile that so often beamed 
on his face ; leaving the beholder in doubt whe- 
ther he most enjoyed the character of his compa- 
nion, or his own covert humour. 

The landlord had succeeded in placing the In- 
dian on some straw, in one of his out-buildings, 
where, covered with his own blanket, John con- 
tinued for the remainder of the night. 

In the mean time, Major Hartmann began to 
grow noisy and jocular ; glass succeeded glass, and 
mug after mug was introduced, until the carousal 
had run deep into the night, or rather morning ; 
when the veteran German expressed an inclination 
to return to the Mansion-house. Most of the party 
had already retired, but Marmaduke knew the ha- 
bits of his friend too well to suggest an earlier ad- 
journment. So soon, however, as the proposal 
was made, the Judge eagerly availed himself of it, 
and the trio prepared to depart. Mrs. Hollister at- 
tended them to the door in person, cautioning her 
guests as to the safest manner of leaving her pre- 
mises. 

“ Lane on Mister Jones, Major,” said she, u he’s 
young, and will be a support to ye. Well, it’s a 
charming sight to see ye, any way, at the Bould Dra- 
goon : and sure its no harm to be kaping a Christ 
mas-eve wid a light heart, for it’s no telling when 
we may have sorrow come upon us. So good 
night, Joodge, and a merry Christmas to ye all, to- 
morrow morning.” 

The gentlemen made their adieus as well as they 
could, and taking the middle of the road, which 
was a fine, wide, and well-beaten path, they did 
tolerably well until they reached the gate of the 


THE PIOXEERS. 


217 ' 


Mansion-house ; but on entering the Judge’s do- 
mains, they encountered some slight difficulties. 
We shall not stop to relate them, hut will just men- 
tion that, in the morning, sundry diverging paths 
were to be seen in the snow ; and that once dur- 
ing their progress to the door, Marmaduke, missing 
his companions, was enabled to trace them by one 
of these paths to a spot, where he discovered them 
with nothing visible but their heads ; Richard sing- 
ing in a most vivacious strain, 

* Come, let us be jelly, 

And cast away folly, 

For grief turns a black head to gray 1” 

19 


v 


CHAPTER XV. 


“ As 9be lay, on that day, in the Bay of Biscay O 1” 


Previously to the occurrence of the scene at 
the “ Bold Dragoon,” Elizabeth had been safely 
reconducted to the Mansion-house, where she was 
left, as its mistress, either to amuse or employ 
herself during the evening, as best suited her own 
inclination. — Most of the lights were extinguished; 
but as Benjamin adjusted, with great care and re- 
gularity, four large candles, in as many massive 
candlesticks of brass, in a row on the sideboard, 
the hall possessed a peculiar air of comfort and 
warmth, contrasted with the cheerless aspect of 
the room she had left, in the academy. 

Remarkable had been one of the listeners to 
Mr. Grant, and returned with her resentment, 
which had been not a little excited by the language 
of the Judge, somewhat softened by reflection and 
the worship. She recollected the youth of Eli- 
zabeth, and thought it no difficult task, under pre- 
sent appearances, to exercise that power indirect- 
ly, which hitherto she had enjoyed undisputed. 
The idea of being governed, or of being compel- 
led to pay the deference of servitude, was abso- 


THE PIONEERS. 


219 


lutely intolerable ; and she had already determin 
ed within herself, some half-dozen times, to make 
an effort, that should at once bring to an issue the 
delicate point of her domestic condition. But as 
often as she met the dark, proud eye of Elizabeth, 
who was walking up and down the apartment, 
musing on the scenes of her youth, and the change 
in her condition, and perhaps the events of the 
day, the housekeeper experienced an awe, that 
she would not own to herself could be excited by 
any thing mortal. It, however, checked her ad- 
vances, and for some time held her tongue-tied. 
At length she determined to commence the dis- 
course, by entering on a subject that was apt to 
level all human distinctions, and in which she 
might display her own abilities. 

u It was quite a wordy sarmont that Parson 
Grant give us to-night,” said Remarkable. — 
u Them church ministers be commonly smart sar- 
monizers ; but they write down their idees, which 
is a great privilege. — I don’t think that by nater 
they are sitch tonguey speakers for an off-hand dis- 
course as the standing-order ministers be.” 

<c And what denomination do you distinguish as 
the standing-order?” inquired Miss Temple, with 
some surprise. 

« Why, the Presbyter’ans, and Congregationals, 
and Baptists too, for-ti-’now ; and all sitch as don’t 
go on their knees to prayer.” 

“ By that rule, then, you would call those who 
belong to the persuasion of my father, the sitting- 
order,” observed Elizabeth. 

u Pm sure I’ve never heer’n ’em spoken of by 
any other name than Quakers, so called,” returned 
Remarkable, betraying a slight uneasiness : u J 
should be the last one ta call them otherwise, for 
I never in my life used a disparaging tarm of the 


220 


THE PIONEERS. 


Judges or any of his family. I’ve always set store 
by the Quakers, they are sitch pretty-spoken, 
clever people ; and it’s a wonderment to me, how 
vour daddy come to marry into a church family, 
for they are as contrary in religion as can be. One 
sits still, and, for the most part, says nothing, while 
the church folks practyse all kinds of ways, so that 
I sometimes think it quite moosical to see them ; 
for I went to a church-meeting once before, down 
country.” 

“You have found an excellence in the church 
liturgy, that has hitherto escaped me,” said Miss 
Temple. “ I will thank you to inquire whether 
the fire in my room burns : I feel fatigued w ith my 
day’s journey, and will retire.” 

Remarkable felt a wonderful inclination to tell 
the young mistress of the mansion, that by open- 
ing a door she might see for herself ; but prudence 
got the better of her resentment, and after pausing 
some little time, as a salvo to her dignity, she did 
as desired. The report was favourable, and the 
young lady, wishing Benjamin, who was filling the 
stove with wood, and the housekeeper, each a 
good night, withdrew. 

The instant that the door closed on Miss Tem- 
ple, Remarkable commenced a sort of mysterious, 
ambiguous discourse, that was neither abusive nor 
commendatory of the qualities of the absent per- 
sonage; but which seemed to be drawing nigh, by 
regular degrees, to a most dissatisfied description. 
The Major-domo made no reply, but continued his 
occupation with great industry, which being hap- 
pily completed, he took a look at the thermome 
ter, and then, opening a drawer of the sideboard, 
he produced a supply of stimulants, that would 
have served to keep the warmth in his system, 
without the aid of the enormous fire he had been 


THE PIONEERS. 


22 1 


building. A small stand was drawn up near the 
stove, and the bottles and the glasses necessary 
for convenience, were quietly arranged. Two 
chairs were placed by the side of this comfortable 
situation, when Benjamin, for the first time, ap- 
peared to observe his companion. 

“ Come,” he cried, u come, Mistress Remarka- 
ble, bring yourself to an anchor in this here chair. 
It’s a peeler without, I can tell you, good woman ; 
but what cares I ? blow high or blow low, d’ye see, 
it’s all the same thing to Ben. The niggers are 
snug stowed below, before a fire that would roast 
an ox whole. The thermometer stands now at 
fifty-five, but if there’s any vartue in good maple 
wood, I’ll weather upon it, before one glass, as 
much as ten points more, so that the Squire, when 
he comes home from Betty Hollister’s warm room, 
will feel as hot as a hand that has given the rigging 
a lick with bad tar. Come, Mistress, bring up in 
this here chair, and tell me how it is you like oui 
new heiress.” 

“ Why, to my notion, Mr. Penguillum” — 

u Pump — Pump,” interrupted Benjamin ; “ it’s 
Ohristmas-eve, Mistress Remarkable, and so, d’ye 
see, you had better call me Pump. It’s a shorter 
name, and as I mean to pump this here decanter 
till it sucks, why you may as well call me Pump.” 

“ Did you ever !” cried Remarkable, with a 
laugh that seemed to unhinge every joint in her 
body. u You’re a moosical creater, Benjamin, 
when the notion takes you. But as I was saying, 
I rather guess that times will be altered now in this 
house.” 

u Alteied!” exclaimed the Major-domo, eyeing 
the bottle, that was assuming the clear aspect of 
cut glass with astonishing rapidity ; u it don’t mat- 
19 * 


222 


THE PIONEERS, 


ter much, Mistress Remarkable, so long as 1 keep 
the keys of the lockers in my pocket 

“ I can’t say,” continued the house-keeper, “ but 
there’s good eatables and drinkables enough in the 
house for a body’s content — a little more sugar, 
Benjamin, in the glass — for Squire Jones is an ex- 
cellent provider. But new lords, new laws ; and 
1 shouldn’t wonder, if you and I had an unsartain 
time on’t in footer.” 

“ Life is as unsartain as the wind that blows,” 
said Benjamin, with a most imposingly moralizing 
air ; — “ and nothing is more vari’ble than the wind, 
Mistress Remarkable, unless you happen to fall in 
with the trades, d’ye see, and then you may run 
for the matter of a month at a time, with studding- 
sails on both sides alow and aloft, and with the ca- 
bin-boy at the wheel.” 

“ 1 know that life is disp’ut unsartain,” said Re- 
markable, compressing her features to the humoui 
of her companion ; u but I expect there will be 
g;reat changes made in the house to rights ; and 
that you will find a young man put over your head, 
as well as. there is one that wants to be over mine ; 
and after having been settled as long as you have, 
Benjamin, I should judge that to be hard.” 

u Promotion should go according to length of 
sarvice,” said the Major-domo ; “ and if-so-be that 
the}' ship a hand for my birth, or place a new stew- 
ard aft, 1 shall throw up my commission in less 
time than you can put a pilot-boat in stays. Thof 
Squire Dickens,” — this was a common misnomer 
with Benjamin, — u is a nice gentleman, and as good 
a man to sail with as Jieart could wish, yet l shall 
tell the Squire, d’ye see, in plain English, and 
that’s my native tongue, that if-so-be he is think- 
ing of putting any Johnny-raw over my head, why 


THE PIONEERS. 


223 


I shall resign. I began forrard, Mistress Pietty- 
nones, and worked my way aft, like a man. I was 
six months aboard a Garnsey lugger, hauling in the 
slack of the lee-sheet, and coiling up rigging. 
From that I went a few trips in a fore-and -after, 
in the same trade, which, after all, was but a blind 
kind of sailing in the dark, where a man larns but 
little, excepting how to steer by the stars. Well, 
then, d’ye see, I larnt how a topmast should be 
slushed, and how a top-gallant-sail was to be beck- 
etted ; and then I did small jobs in the cabin, such 
as mixing the skipper’s grog. ’Twas there I got 
my taste, which, you must have often seen, is ex- 
cellent. — Well, here’s better acquaintance to us. 

Remarkable nodded a return to the compliment, 
and took a sip of the beverage before her ; for, pro- 
vided it was well sweetened, she had no objection 
to a small potation now and then. After this ob- 
servance of courtesy between the worthy couple, 
the dialogue proceeded as follows : 

M You have had great experunces in your life, 
Benjamin ; for, as the scripter says, c they that go 
down to the sea m ships see the works of the 
Lord.’ ” 

“ Ay ! for that matter, they in brigs and schoo- 
ners too ; and it mought say, the works of the devil. 
The sea, Mistress Remarkable, is a great advan- 
tage to a man, m the way of knowledge, for he 
sees the fashions of nations, and the shape of a 
country. Now, I suppose, for myself here, who is 
but an unlarned man to some that follows the seas, 
I suppose that, taking the coast from cape Ler- 
Hogue as low down as Cape Finish-there, there 
isn’t so much as a head-land, or an island, that 1 
don’t know either the name of it, or something 
more or less about it. — Take enough, woman, to 
colour the water. Here’s sugar. It’s a sweet 


224 


THE PIONEERS. 


tooth, that fellow that you hold on upon yet. JVJ is 
tress Pretty-bones. — But, as I was saying, take the 
whole coast along, I know it as well as the way 
from here to the Bold Dragoon ; and a devil of an 
acquaintance is that Bay of Biscay. Whew ! i 
wish you could but hear the wind blow there. It 
sometimes takes two to hold one man’s hair on his 
head. Scudding through the Bay is pretty much 
the same thing as travelling the roads in this coun- 
try, up one side of a mountain, and down the 
other.” 

“ Do tell !” exclaimed Remarkable ; “ and does 
the sea run as high as mountains, Benjamin ?” 

( Well, I will tell ; but first let’s taste the grog. 
— Hem ! it’s the right kind of stuff, I must say, that 
you keeps h this country ; but then you’re so close 
aboard the West-Indies, you make but a small run 
of it. By the lord Harry, woman, if Garnsey only 
lay somewhere between Cape Hatteras and the 
Bite of Logann, but you’d see rum cheap ! As to 
the seas, they runs more in Uppers in the Bay of 
Biscay, unless it may be in a sow- wester, when 
they tumble about quite handsomely ; thof its not 
m the narrow seas that you are to look for a SAvell ; 
just go off the Western Islands, in a westerly blow, 
keeping the land on your larboard hand, with the 
ship’s head to the south’ard, and bring too, undei 
a close-reef’d topsail ; or, mayhap, a reef’d fore- 
sail, with a fore-top-mast-staysail ; and mizzen- 
staysail, to keep her up to the sea, if she will beai 
it ; and lay there for the matter of two watches, if 
you want to see mountains. W T hy, good woman, 
I’ve been off there in the Boadishey frigate, when 
you could see nothing but some such matter as a 
piece of sky, mayhap, as big as the mainsail ; and 
then again, there was a hole under your lee-quar- 
ter, big enough to hold the whole British navy.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


22 3 


“ Oh ! for massy’s sake ! and wan’t you afeard, 
Benjamin ? and how did you get off ?” 

“ Afeard ! who the devil do you think was to be 
frightened at a little salt water tumbling about his 
head ? As for getting off, when we had enough of 
it, and had washed our decks down pretty well, 
we called all hands, for, d’ye see, the watch below 
was in their hammocks, all the same as if they were 
in one of your best bed-rooms ; and so we watch- 
ed for a smooth time ; clapt her helm hard a-wea- 
ther, let fall the foresail, and got the tack aboard ; 
and so, when we got her afore it, I ask you, Mis- 
tress Pretty-bones, if she didn’t walk ? didn’t she ! 
I’m no liar, good woman, when I say that I saw 
that ship jump from the top of one sea to another, 
just like one of these squirrels that can fly jumps 
from tree to tree.” 

“ What, clean out of the water !” exclaimed Re- 
markable, lifting her two lank arms, with their bony 
hands spread in astonishment. 

“ It was no such easy matter to get out of the 
water, good woman ; for the spray flew so that you 
couldn’t tell which was sea and which was cloud. 
So there we kept her afore it, for the matter of two 
glasses. The first lieutenant he cun’d the ship 
himself, and there was four quarter-masters at the 
wheel, besides the master, with six forecastle men 
in the gun-room, at the relieving tackles. But then 
she behaved herself so well ! Oh ! she was a sweet 
ship, mistress ! That one frigate was well worth 
more, to live in, than the best house in the island. 
If I was king of England, I’d have her hauled up 
above Lon’on bridge, and fit her up for a palace ; 
because why ? if any body can afford to live com- 
fortably, his majesty can.” 

u Well ! but Benjamin,” cried the listener, who 


226 


THE PIONEERS. 


was iii an ecstasy of astonishment, at this relation 
of the steward’s dangers, u what did you do ?” 

44 Do ! why we did our duty, like good hearty 
fellows. Now if the countrymen of Mounsheer Ler 
Quaw had been aboard of her, they would have just 
struck her ashore on some of them small islands ; 
but we run along the land, until we found her dead 
to leeward off the mountains of Pico, and dam’me 
if I know to this day how we got there, whether 
we jumped over the island, or hauled round it ; — 
but there we was, and there we lay, under easy 
sail, fore-reaching, first upon one tack and then 
upon t’other, so as to poke her nose out now and 
then, and take a look to wind’ard, till the gale 
blow’d its pipe out.” 

44 I wonder now !” exclaimed Remarkable, to 
whom most of the terms used by Benjamin were 
perfectly unintelligible, but who had got a confused 
idea of a raging tempest. cc It must be an awful life, 
that going to sea ! and I don’t feel astonishment 
that you’re so affronted with the thoughts of being 
forced to quit a comfortable home like this. Not 
that a body cares much for’t, as there’s more houses 
than one to live in. Why, when the Judge agreed 
with me to come and live with him, I’d no more 
notion of stopping any time than any thing. I 
happened in, just to see how the family did, about 
a week after Miss Temple died, thinking to be 
back home agin night ; but the family was in sitch 
a distressed way, that I couldn’t but stop awhile, 
and help ’em on. I thought the sitooation a good 
one, seeing that I was an unmarried body, and they 
were so much in want of help ; so I tarried.” 

44 And a long time have you left your anchors 
down in the same place, mistress. I think you must 
find that the ship rides easy ?” 


THE PIONEERS. 


227 


iC How you talk, Benjamin ! there’s no believing 
a word you say. I must say that the Judge and 
Squire Jones have both acted quite clever, so long ; 
but I see that now we shall have a specimen to the 
contrary. I heer’n say that the Judge was gone a 
great ’broad, and that he meant to bring his darter 
hum, but I did’nt calcoolate on sitch carrins on. 
To my notion, Benjamin, she’s likely to turn out a 
desput ugly gall.” 

u Ugly !” echoed the Major-domo, opening his 
eyes, that were beginning to close in a very suspi- 
cious sleepiness, in wide amazement. tc By the 
lord Harry, woman, I should as soon think of call- 
ing the Boadishey a clumsy frigate. What the 
devil would you have ? arn’t her eyes as bright as 
the morning and evening stars ! and isn’t her hair 
as black and glistening as rigging that has just had 
a lick of tar ! does’nt she move as stately as a first- 
rate in smooth water, on a bow-line ! Why, wo- 
man, the figure-head of the Boadishey was a fool 
to her, and that, as I’ve often heard the captain 
say, was an image of a great Queen ; and arn’t 
Queens always comely, woman ? for who do you 
think would be a King, and not choose a handsome 
bedfellow ?” 

u Talk decent, Benjamin,” said the housekeep- 
er, “ or I won’t keep your company. I don’t gain- 
say her being comely to look on, but I will main- 
tain, that she’s likely to show but poor conduct. 
She seems to think herself too good to talk to a 
poor body. From what Squire Jones had tell’d 
me, I some expected to be quite captivated by hei 
company. Now, to my reckoning, Lowizy Grant 
is much more pritty behaved than Betsy Temple. 
She wouldn’t so much as hold discourse with me, 
when I wanted to ask her how she felt, on coming 
home and missing her mammy.” 


228 


THE PIONEERS. 


‘ Perhaps she didn’t understand you, woman ; 
you are none of the best linguister ; and then Miss 
Lizzy has been exercising the King’s English un- 
der a great Lon’on lady, and, fof that matter, can 
talk the language almost as well as myself, or any 
native born British subject. You’ve forgot your 
schooling, and the young mistress is a great scol 
lard.” 

tc Mistress !” cried Remarkable ; u don’t make 
one out to be a nigger, Benjamin. She’s no mis 
tress of mine, and never will be. And as to speech, 
I hold myself as second to nobody out of New 
England. I was born and raised in Essex county ; 
and I’ve always heer’n say, that the Bay State was 
provarbal for pronounsation !” 

“ I’ve often heard of that Bay of State,” said 
Benjamin, “ but can’t say that I’ve ever been in it, 
nor do I know exactly where away it is that it lays ; 
but I suppose that there is good anchorage in it, 
and that it’s no bad place for the taking of ling ; but 
for size, it can’t be so much as a yawl to a sloop 
of war, compared with the Bay of Biscay, or, may- 
hap, Tor-bay. And as for language, if you want 
to hear the dictionary overhauled, like a long-line 
in a blow, you must go to Wapping, and listen to 
the Lon’oners, as they deal out their lingo. How- 
somever, I see no such mighty matter that Miss 
Lizzy has been doing to you, good woman, so take 
another drop of your brew, and forgive and foiget, 
like an honest soul.” 

“ No, indeed ! and I shan’t do sitch a thing, 
Benjamin. This treatment is a newity to me, and 
what I won’t put up with. I have a hundred and 
fifty dollars at use, besides abed a#d twenty sheep, 
to good ; and I don’t crave to live in a house where 
a body mus’nt call a young woman by her given 
name to hei face. I will call her Betsy as much 


THE PIONEERS. 


229 


as ] please ; it’s a free country, and no one can stop 
me. I did intend to stop while summer, but I shall 
quit to-morrow’ morning ; and I will talk just as I 
please.” 

u For that matter, Mistress Remarkable,” said 
Benjamin, “ there’s none here who will contradict 
you, for I’m of opinion that it would be as easy to 
stop a hurricane with a Barcelony hankerchy, as to 
bring up your tongue, when the stopper is oft*. I 
say, good woman, do they grow many monkeys 
along the shores of that Bay of State ?” 

“ You’re a monkey yourself, Mr. Penguillum,” 
cried the enraged housekeeper, u or a bear ! a 
black, beastly bear ! and an’t fit for a decent wo- 
man to stay with. I’ll never keep your company 
agin, sir, if I should live thirty years with the 
Judge. Sitch talk is more befitting the kitchen 
than the keeping-room of a house of one who is 
well to do in the world.” 

Look you, Mistress Pitty — Patty — Pretty- 
bones, mayhap I’m some such matter as a bear, 
d’ye see, as they will find who come to grapple 
with me ; but dam’me if I’m a monkey — a thing 
that chatters without knowing a word of what it 
says — a parrot ; that will hold a dialogue, for what 
an honest man knows, in a dozen languages ; may- 
hap in the Bay of State lingo ; mayhap in Greek 
or High Dutch. But dost it know what it means 
itself? canst answer me that, good woman ? Youi 
Midshipman can sing out, and pass the word, when 
the Captain gives the order, but just set him adrift 
by himself, and let him work the ship of his own 
head, and, stop my grog, if you don’t find all the 
Johny-raws laughing at him.” 

“ Stop your grog, indeed !” said Remarkable, 
lising with great indignation, and seizing a candle 
20 


230 


THE PIONEERS. 


u you’re groggy now, Benjamin, and I’ll quit the 
room before I hear any of your misbece ming words 
from you.” 

The housekeeper retired, with a manner but lit- 
tle less dignified, as she thought, than the air of 
the stately heiress, muttering, as she drew the dooi 
after her, with a noise like the report of a musket, 
the opprobrious terms of “ drunkard,” “ sot,” and 
u beast.” 

“ Who’s that you say is drunk cried Benja- 
min, fiercely, rising and making a movement to- 
wards Remarkable. “ You talk of mustering your- 
self with a lady ! you’re just fit to grumble and find 
fault. Where the devil should you larn behaviour 
and dictionary ? in your damned Bay of State, 
ha?” 

Benjamin here fell back in his chair, and soon 
gave vent to certain ominous sounds, which re- 
sembled, not a little, the growling of his favourite 
animal, the bear itself. Before, however, he was 
quite locked, to use the language that would suit 
the Della-cruscan humour of certain refined critics 
of the present day, “ in the arms of Morpheus,” 
he spoke aloud, observing due pauses between his 
epithets, the impressive terms of u monkey,” u par- 
rot,” “pic-nic,” u tar-pot,” and w linguisters.” 

We will not attempt to explain his meaning, nor 
connect his sentences, and our readers must be sa- 
tisfied with our informing them, that they were 
expressed with all that coolness of contempt, that 
a man might well be supposed to feel for a mon- 
key. 

Nearly t vo hours passed in this sleep, before 
the Major-domo was awakened by the noisy en- 
trance of Richard, Major Hartmann, and the mas- 
ter of the mansion. Benjamin so far rallied his 


THE PIONEERS. 


231 


confused faculties, as to shape the course of the 
two former to their respective apartments, when 
he disappeared himself, leaving the task of secur- 
ing the house to him who was most interested in 
its safety. Locks and bars were but little attend- 
ed to in the early day of that settlement ; and so 
soon as Marmaduke had given an eye to the enor- 
mous fires of his dwelling, he retired. And with 
this act of prudence closes the first night of our 
tale. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


“ Watch . ( aside ) Some treason, masters — 

Yet stand close.” 

Much ado about nothing. 


It was fortunate for more than one of the bac- 
chanalians, who left the “ Bold Dragoon” late in 
the evening, that the severe cold of the season 
was becoming, rapidly, less dangerous, as they 
threaded the different mazes, through the snow- 
banks, that led to their respective dwellings. Thin, 
driving clouds began, towards morning, to flit across 
the heavens, and the moon sat behind a volume of 
vapour, that was impelled furiously towards the 
north, carrying with it the softer atmosphere from 
the distant ocean. The rising sun was obscured 
by denser and increasing columns of clouds, while 
the southerly wind, that rushed up the valley, 
brought the never failing-symptoms of a thaw. 

It was quite late in the morning, before Eliza- 
beth, observing the faint glow which appeared on 
the eastern mountain, long after the light of the sun 
had struck the opposite hills, ventured from the 
house, with a view to gratify her curiosity with a 
glance by daylight at the surrounding objects, be- 
fore the tardy revellers of the Christmas-eve 
should make their appearance at the breakfast-ta- 
ble. Whi’e she was drawing the folds of her pe- 


THE PIONEERS. 


233 


lisse more closely around her form, to guard against 
a cold that was yet great, though rapidly yielding, 
in the small enclosure that opened in the rear of the 
house on a little thicket of low pines, that were 
springing up where trees of a mightier growth had 
lately stood, she was surprised at ihe voice of Mr. 
Jones, crying aloud — 

u Merry Christmas, merry Christmas to you, 
cousin Bess. Ah, ha! an early riser, I see ; but I 
knew I should steal a march on you. I never was 
in a house yet, where I didn’t get the first Christ- 
mas greeting on every soul in it, man, woman, and 
child ; great and small ; black, white, and yellow. 
But stop a minute, till I can just slip on my coat ; 
you are about to look at the improvements, I see, 
which no one can explain so well as I, who planned 
them all. It will be an hour before ’duke and the 
Major can sleep off Mrs. Hollister’s confounded 
distillations, and so I’ll come down and go with 
you.” 

Elizabeth turned, and observed her cousin in 
his night-cap, with his head out of his bed -room 
window, where his zeal for pre-eminence, in defi- 
ance of the weather, had impelled him to thrust 
it. She laughed, and promising to wait for his 
company, she re-entered the house, making her 
appearance again, holding in her hand a packet 
that was secured by several large and important 
seals, just in time to meet the gentleman. 

u Come, Bessy, come,” he cried, drawing one 
of her arms through his own ; “ the snow begins 
to give, but it will bear us yet. Don’t you snuff 
old Pennsylvania in the very air ? This is a vile 
climate, girl ; now at sunset, last evening, it was 
cold enough to freeze a man’s zeal, and that, I can 
tell you, takes a thermometer near zero for me ; 
then about nine or ten it began to moderate ; at 
20 * 


234 


THE PIONEERS. 


twelve it was quite mild, and here all the rest of 
the night I have been so hot as not to bear a blan- 
ket on the bed. — Holla ! Aggy, — merry Christ- 
mas, Aggy — I say, do you hear me, you black dog ’ 
there’s a dollar for you ; and if the gentlemen get 
up before I come back, do you come out and let 
me know. I wouldn’t have ’duke get the start of 
me for the worth of your head.” 

The black caught the money from the snow, and 
promising a due degree of watchfulness, he gave 
the dollar a whirl in the air of twenty feet, and 
catching it as it fell, in the palm of his hand, he 
withdrew to the kitchen, to exhibit his present, 
with a heart as light as his face was happy in its 
expression. 

“ Oh, rest easy, my dear coz,” said the young 
lady ; “ I took a look in at my father, who is like- 
ly to sleep an hour ; and by using due vigilance 
you will secure all the honours of the season.” 

“Why, ’duke is your father, Elizabeth; but 
’duke is a man who likes to be foremost, even in 
trifles. Now, as for myself, I care for no such 
things, except in the way of competition ; for a 
thing, which is of no moment in itself, may be made 
of importance in the way of competition. So it 
is with your father — he loves to be first ; but I only 
struggle with him as a competitor, like.” 

“ Oh ! it’s all very clear, sir,” said Elizabeth : 
“ you would not care a fig for distinction, if there 
were no one in the world but yourself; but as 
there happen to be a great many others, why, you 
must struggle with them all — in the way of com- 
petition.” 

“ Exactly so ; I see you are a clever girl, Bess- 
and one who does credit to her masters. It was 
my plan to send you to that school ; for when your 
father first mentioned the thing, I wrote a private 


THE PIONEERS, 


235 


etter for advice to a judicious friend in the city, 
who recommended the very school you went to. 
’Duke was a little obstinate at first, as usual, but 
when he heard the truth, he was obliged to send 
you.” 

“ Well, a truce to ’duke’s foibles, sir ; he is my 
father ; and if you knew what he has been doing 
for you while we were in Albany, you would deal 
more tenderly with his character.” 

“For me!” cried Richard, pausing a moment 
in his walk to reflect. “ Oh ! he got the plans of 
the new Dutch meeting-house for me, I suppose; 
but I care very little about it, for a man, of a cer- 
tain kind of talent, is seldom aided by any such 
foreign suggestions : his own brain is the best ar- 
chitect.” 

“ No such thing,” said Elizabeth, looking pro- 
vokingly knowing. 

“ No ! let me see — perhaps he had my name 
put in the bill for the new turnpike, as a director ?” 

u He might possibly ; but it is not to such an 
appointment that I allude.” 

“ Such an appointment !” repeated Mr. Jones, 
who began to fidget with curiosity ; u then it is 
an appointment. If it is in the militia, I won’t 
take it.” 

“ No, no, it is not in the militia,” cried Eliza- 
beth, showing the packet in her hand, and then 
drawing it back, with a coquettish air ; “ it is an 
„ office of both honour and emolument.” 

“Honour and emolument !” echoed Richard, in 
painful suspense ; “ show me the paper, girl. Say, 
is it an office where there is any thing to do ?” 

“ You have hit it, cousin Dickon ; it is the ex- 
ecutive office of the county ; at least so said my 
father, when he gave me this packet to offer you 
as a Christmas-box. — “ Surely, if any thing will 


236 


THE PIONEERS. 


please Dickon,’ he said, c it will be to fill the ex- 
ecutive chair of the county.’ ” 

“ Executive chair ! what nonsense !” cried the 
impatient gentleman, snatching the packet from her 
hand ; w there is no such office in the county. Eh ' 
what ! it is, I declare, a commission, appointing 
Richard Jones, Esquire, Sheriff of the county. 
Well, this is kind in ’duke, positively. I must say 
’duke has a warm heart, and never forgets his 

friends. Sheriff! High Sheriff of ! It sounds 

well, Bess, but it shall execute better. ’Duke is 
a judicious man, after all, and knows human nature 
thoroughly. I’m much obliged to him,” continued 
Richard, using the skirt of his coat, unconsciously, 
to wipe his eyes ; u though I would do as much for 
him any day, as he shall see, if I have an oppor- 
tunity to perform any of the duties of my office 
on him. It shall be done, cousin Bess — it shall be 
done I say. — How this cursed south wind makes 
ray eyes water.” 

u Now, Richard,” said the laughing maiden, 

“ now I think you will find something to do. I 
have often heard you complain of old, that there 
was nothing to do in this new country, while to 
my eyes it seemed as if every thing remained to 
be done.” 

tc Do !” echoed Richard, who blew his nose, 
raised his little form to its greatest elevation, and 
looked prodigiously serious. “ Every thing de- 
pends on system, my girl. I shall sit down this 
afternoon, and systematize the county. I must * 
have deputies, you know. I will divide the coun 
ty into districts, over which 1 will place my depu- 
ties ; and I will have one for the village, which ) 
will call my home department. Let me see— 
oh ! Benjamin ! yes, Benjamin will make a goor 
deputy ; he has been naturalized, and would an- 


THE PIONEERS. 


23 ? 


swer admirably, if he could only ride on horse- 
back.” 

« “ Yes, Mr. Sheriff,” said his companion, c ' and 
as he understands ropes so well, he would be very 
expert, should occasion happen for his services, in 
the way of Jack Ketch.” 

u No,” interrupted the other, u I flatter myself 

that no one could hang a man better than that 

is — ha — oh ! yes, Benjamin would do extremely 
well, in such an unfortunate dilemma, if he could 
be persuaded to attempt it. But I should despair 
of the thing. I never could induce him to hang, 
or teach him to ride on horseback. I must seek 
another deputy.” 

“ Well, sir, as you have abundant leisure for 
all these important affairs, I beg that you will for- 
get that you are High Sheriff, and devote some 
little of your time to gallantry. Where are the 
beauties and improvements which you were to 
show me ?” 

“ Where ? why everywhere. Here I have laid 
out some new streets; and when they are opened, 
and the trees felled, and they are all built up, will 
they not make a fine town ? Well, ’duke is a li- 
beral-hearted fellow, with all his stubbornness. — 
Yes, yes, I must have at least four deputies, be- 
sides a jailer.” 

“ I see no streets in the direction of our walk/’ 
said Elizabeth, “ unless you call the short ave- 
nues through these pine bushes by that name. 
Surely you do not contemplate building houses, 
very soon, in that forest before us, and in those 
swamps.” 

u We must run our streets by the compass, coz, 
and disregard trees, hills, ponds, stumps, or, in 
fact, any thing but posterity. Such is the will of 
your father, and your father, you know” — 


238 


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u Had you made Sheriff, Mr. Jones,” interrupt- 
ed the lady, with a tone which said very plainly to 
the gentleman, that he was touching a forbidden 
subject. 

“ I know it, I know it,” cried Richard ; “ and 
if it were in my power, I’d make ’duke a king. 
He is a noble-hearted fellow, and would make an 
excellent king ; that is, if he had a good prime mi- 
nister. — But who have we here ? voices in the 
bushes ; — a combination about mischief, I’ll wager 
my commission. Let us draw near, and examine 
a little into the matter.” 

During this dialogue, as the parties had kept in 
motion, Richard and his cousin advanced some dis- 
tance from the house, into the open space in the 
rear of the village, where, as may be gathered from 
the conversation, streets were planned, and future 
dwellings contemplated ; but where, in truth, the 
only mark of improvement that was to be seen, 
was a neglected clearing along the skirt of a dark 
forest of mighty pines, over which the bushes or 
sprouts of the same tree had sprung up, to a height 
that interspersed the fields of snow with little 
thickets of evergreen. The rushing of the wind, 
as it whistled through the tops of these mimic trees, 
prevented the footsteps of the pair from being 
heard, while their branches concealed their per- 
sons. Thus aided, the listeners drew nigh to a 
spot, where the young hunter, Leather-stocking, 
and the Indian chief, were collected in an earnest 
consultation. The former was urgent in his man- 
ner, and seemed to think the subject of deep im- 
portance, while Natty appeared to listen, with more 
than his usual attention, to what the other was 
saying. Mohegan stood a little on one side, with 
his head sunken on his chest, his hair falling for- 
ward, so as to conceal most of his features, and 


THE PIONEERS. 


23 


his whole attitude expressive of deep dejection, if 
not of shame. 

“ Let us withdraw,” whispered Elizabeth ; “ we 
are intruders, and can have no right to listen to the 
secrets of these men.” 

“ No right !” returned Richard, a little impa- 
tiently, in the same tone, and drawing her arm so 
forcibly through his own as to prevent her retreat ; 
• c you forget, cousin, that it is my duty to preserve 
the peace of the county, and. see the laws executed 
These wanderers frequently commit depredations ; 
though I do not think John would do any thing se- 
cretly. Poor fellow ! he was quite boozy last 
night, and hardly seems to be over it yet. Let us 
draw nigher, and hear what they say.” 

Notwithstanding the lady’s reluctance, Richard 
stimulated doubtless by his nice sense of duty, pre- 
vailed ; and they were soon so near as distinctly to 
hear sounds. 

“ The bird must be had,” said Natty, “ by fair 
means or foul. Heigho ! Pve known the time, lad, 
when the wild turkeys wasn’t over scarce in the 
country ; though you must go into the Virginy 
gaps, if you want them for the feathers. To be 
sure, there is a different taste to a partridge, and a 
well-fattened turkey; though, to my eating, bea- 
ver’s tail and bear’s hams makes the best of food. 
But then every one has his own appetite. I gave 
the last farthing, all to that shilling, to the French 
trader, this very morning, as I came through the 
town, for powder; so, as you have nothing, we can 
have but one shot for it. I know that Billy Kirby 
is out, and means to have a pull of the trigger at 
that very turkey. John has a true eye for a single 
fire, and somehow, my hand shakes so, whenever 
1 have to do any thing extrawnary, that I often lose 
my aim. Now, when I killed the she-bear this fall, 


240 


THE PIONEERS. 


with her cubs, though they were so mighty raven 
ous, I knocked them over one at a shot, and loaded 
while I dodged the trees in the bargain ; but this is 
a very different thing, Mr. Oliver.” 

u This,” cried the young man with an accent 
that sounded as if he took a bitter pleasure in his 
poverty, while he held a shilling up before his eyes 
— “ this is all the treasure that I possess — this and 
my rifle ! Now, indeed, I have become a man of 
the woods, and must place my sole dependence on 
the chase. Come, Natty, let us stake the last 
penny for the bird ; with your aim, it cannot fail to 
be successful.” 

u I would rather it should be John, lad ; my heart 
jumps into my mouth, because you set your mind 
so much on’t; and I’m sartain that I shall miss the 
bird. Them Indians can shoot one time as well as 
another ; nothing ever troubles them. I say, John, 
here’s a shilling ; take my rifle, and get a shot at 
the big turkey they’ve put up at the stump. Mr. 
Oliver is over anxious for the creater, and I’m sure 
to do nothing when I have over anxiety about it.” 

The Indian turned his head gloomily, and, after 
looking keenly for a moment, in profound silence, 
at his companions, he replied — 

“ When John was young, eyesight was not 
straighter than his bullet. The Mingo squaws 
cried out at the sound of his rifle. The Mingo 
warriors were made squaws. When did he ever 
shoot twice ! The eagle went above the clouds, 
when he passed the wigwam of Chingachgook; his 
feathers were plenty with the women. — But see,” 
he said, raising his voice, from the low, mournful 
tones in which he had spoken, to a pitch of keen 
excitement, and stretching forth both hands — “ they 
shake like a deer at the wolf’s howl. Is John old ? 
When was a Mohican a squaw, with seventy win- 


THE PIONEERS. 


241 


ters ! No ! the white man brings old age with 
him — rum is his tomahawk!” 

“ Why then do you use it, old man ?” exclaimed 
the young hunter ; “ why will one, so noble by na- 
ture, aid the devices of the devil, by making him- 
self a beast !” 

Beast ! is John a beast ?” replied the Indian, 
slowly ; “ yes ; you say no lie, child of the Fire- 
eater ! John is a beast. The smokes were once 
few in these hills. The deer would lick the hand 
of a white man, and the birds rest on his head. 
They were strangers to him.* My fathers came 
from the shores of the salt lake. They fled before 
rum. They came to their grandfather, and they 
lived in peace ; or, when they did raise the hatchet, 
it was to strike it into the brain of a Mingo. They 
gathered around the counciUfire, and what they said 
was done. Then John was a man. But warriors 
and traders with light eyes followed them. One 
brought the long knife, and one brought rum. 
They were more than the pines on the mountains ; 
and they broke up the councils, and took the lands. 
The evil spirit was in their jugs, and they let him 
loose. — Yes, yes — you say no lie, Young Eagle; 
John is a beast.” 

Forgive me, old warrior,” cried the youth, 
grasping his hand ; u I should be the last to reproach 
you. The curses of heaven light on the cupidity 
that has destroyed such a race. Remember, John, 
that I am of your family, and it is now my greatest 
pride.” 

The muscles of Mohegan relaxed a little, and he 
said more mildly — 

“ You are a Delaware, my son ; your words are 
not heard. — John cannot shoot.” 

“ I thought that lad had Indian blood in him,” 
whispered Richard, u by the awkward way he han- 

21 


242 


THE PIONEERS. 


died my horses last night. You see, coz, they 
never use harness. But the poor fellow shall have 
two shots-^at the turkey, if he wants it, for I’ll give 
him another shilling myself; though, perhaps, I 
had better offer to shoot for him. They have got 
up their Christmas sports, I find, in the bushes 
yonder, where you hear the laughter ; — though if 
is a queer taste this chap has for turkey ; not but 
what it is good eating too.” 

u Hold, cousin Richard,” exclaimed Elizabeth, 
clinging to his arm, “ would it be delicate to offer 
a shilling to that gentleman ?” 

“ Gentleman again ! do you think a half-breed, 
like him, will refuse money ? No, no, girl ; he will 
take the shilling ; ay ! and even rum too, notwith- 
standing he moralizes so much about it. — But I’ll 
give the lad a chance for his turkey, for that Billy 
Kirby is one of the best marksmen in tbe country : 
that is, if we except the — the gentleman.” 

u Then,” said Elizabeth, who found her strength 
unequal to her will, u then, sir, 1 will speak.” — 
She advanced, with an air of proud determination, 
in front of her cousin, and entered the little circle 
of bushes that surrounded the trio of hunters. 
Her appearance startled the youth, who at first 
made an unequivocal motion towards retiring, but, 
recollecting himself, bowed, by lifting his cap, and 
resumed his attitude of leaning on his rifle. Nei- 
ther Natty nor Mohegan betrayed any emotion, 
though the appearance of Elizabeth was so entirely 
unexpected. 

“ I find,” she said, “ that the old Christmas sport 
of shooting the turkey is yet in use among you. — 
[ feel inclined to try my chance for a bird. Which 
of you will take this money, and, after paying my 
fee, give me the aid of his rifle?” 

(l Is this a sport for a lady !” exclaimed the 


THE PIONEERS # 


243 


young hunter, with an emphasis that could not 
well be mistaken, and with a rapidity that show- 
ed he spoke without consulting any thing but 
feeling. 

u Why not, sir ?” returned the maiden. u If it 
be inhuman, the sin is not confined to one sex only. 
But I have my humour as well as others. I ask 
not your assistance, sir ; but” — turning to Natty, 
and dropping a dollar in his hand — “ this old vete- 
ran of the forest will not be so ungallant, as to re- 
fuse one fire for a lady.” 

Leather-stocking dropped the money into his 
pouch, and throwing up the end of his rifle, he 
freshened his priming ; and, first laughing in his 
usual manner, he threw the piece over his shoul- 
der, and said — 

“ If Billy Kirby don’t get the bird before me, 
and the Frenchman’s powder don’t hang fire this 
damp morning, you’ll see as fine a turkey dead, 
in a few minutes, as ever was eaten in the Judge’s 
shanty. I have know’d the Dutch women, on the 
Mohawk and Scoharie, count greatly on coming to 
them merry-makings ; and so, lad, you shouldn’t 
be short with the lady. Come, let us go forward, 
for if we wait, the finest bird will be gone.” 

“ But I have a right before you, Natty, and 
shall try my own luck first. You will excuse me, 
Miss Temple ; I have much reason to wish that 
bird, and may seem ungallant, but I must claim my 
privileges.” 

“ Claim any thing that is justly your own, sir,” 
returned the lady ; “ we are both adventurers, 
and this is my knight. I trust my fortune to his 
hand and eye. Lead on, Sir Leather-stocking, and 
we will follow.” 

Natty, who seemed pleased with the frank ad- 
dress of the young and beauteous maiden, who 


244 


THE PIONEERS. 


had so singularly intrusted him with such a com- 
mission, returned the bright smile with which she 
had addressed him, by his own peculiar mark of 
mirth, and moved across the snow, towards the 
spot whence the sounds of boisterous mirth pro- 
ceeded, with the long strides of a hunter. His 
companions followed in silence, the youth casting 
frequent and uneasy glances towards Elizabeth, 
who was detained by a motion from Richard. 

“ I should think, Miss Temple,” he said, so soon 
as the others were out of hearing, “ that if you 
really wished a turkey, you would not have taken 
a stranger for the office, and such a one as Lea- 
ther-stocking. But I can hardly believe that you 
are serious, for 1 have fifty at this moment shut up 
in the coops, in every stage of fat, so that you 
might choose any quality you pleased. There 
are six that I am trying an experiment on, by giv- 
ing them brick-bats with ” 

u Enough, cousin Dickon,” interrupted the la- 
dy } cc I do wish the bird, and it is because 1 so 
wish, that I commissioned this Mr. Leather-stock- 
ing.” 

“ Did you ever hear of the great shot that I 
made at the wolf, cousin Elizabeth, who was car- 
rying off your father’s sheep ?” said Richard, draw- 
ing himself up into an air of displeasure. u He 
had the sheep on his back ; and had the head of 
the wolf been on the other side, I should have kill- 
ed him dead ; as it was” 

“ You killed the sheep,” again interrupted the 
young lady — “ I know it all, my dear coz. But 
would it have been decorous, for the High Sheriff 
of to mingle in such sports as these ?” 

“ Surely you did not think I intended actually 
to fire with my own hands ?” said Mr. Jones. — 
u But let us follow, and see the shooting. There 


THE PIONEERS. 


246 


is no fear of an) thing unpleasant occurring to any 
female in this new country, especially to your 
father’s daughter, and in my presence.” 

u My father’s daughter fears nothing, sir,” re- 
turned Elizabeth ; “ more especially when escorted 
by the highest executive officer in the county ? y 

She took his arm, and he led her through the 
mazes of the bushes, to the spot where most of the 
young men of the village were collected for the 
sports of shooting a Christmas match, and whither 
Natty and his companions had already preceded 
them. 


CHAPTER XVII. 


“ I guess, by all this quaint array. 

The burghers hold their sports to day. 

Scott. 


The ancient amusement of shooting the Christ- 
mas turkey, is one of the few sports that the set- 
tlers of a new country seldom or never neglect to 
observe. It was connected with the daily practices 
of a people, who often laid aside the axe or the 
sithe to seize the rifle, as the deer glided through 
the forests they were felling, or the bear entered 
their rough meadows to scent the air of a clearing, 
and to scan, with a look of sagacity, the progress 
of the invader. 

On the present occasion, the usual amusement 
of the day had been a little hastened, in order to 
allow a fair opportunity to Mr. Grant, whose exhi- 
bition was not less a treat to the young sportsmen, 
than the one which engaged their present atten- 
tion. The owner of the birds was a free black, 
who had been preparing for the occasion a collec- 
tion of game, that was admirably qualified to in- 
flame the appetite of an epicure, and was well 
adapted to the means and skill of the different com- 
petitors, who were of all ages. He had offered to 
the younger and more humble marksmen divers 
birds of an inferior quality, and some shooting had 


THE PIONEERS. 


247 


already taken place, much to the pecuniary ad van 
tage of the sable owner of the game. The order 
of the sports was extremely simple, and well un- 
derstood. The bird was fastened by a string of 
tow, to the base of the stump of a large pine, the 
side of which, towards the point where the marks- 
men were placed, had been flattened with an axe, 
in order that it might serve the purpose of a target, 
by which the merit of each individual might be as- 
certained. The distance between the stump and 
this point was one hundred measured yards : a foot 
more or a foot less being thought an invasion of the 
right of one of the parties. The negro affixed his 
own price to every bird, and the terms of the chance : 
but when these were once established, he was 
obliged, by the strict principles of public justice 
that prevailed in the country, to admit any adven- 
turer who might offer. 

The throng consisted of some twenty or thirty 
young men, most of whom had rifles, and a collec- 
tion of all the boys in the village. The little ur 
chins, clad in coarse but warm garments, stoo* 
gathered around the more distinguished marksmei 
with their hands stuck under their waistbands, lis- 
tening eagerly to the boastful stories of the skill 
that had been exhibited on former occasions, and 
were already emulating in their hearts these won- 
derful deeds in gunnery. 

The chief speaker was the man who had been 
mentioned by Natty, as Billy Kirby. This fellow, 
whose occupation, when he did labour, was that of 
clearing lands, or chopping jobs, was of great sta- 
ture, and carried, in his very air, the index of his 
character. He was a noisy, boisterous, reckless 
lad, whose good-natured eye contradicted the blunt- 
ness and bullying tenor of his speech. For weeks 
he would lounge around the taverns of the county. 


U \ 


THE PIONEERS. 


in a M ite of perfect idleness, or doing small jobs 
for bis liquor and. his meals, and cavilling with ap- 
plicants about the prices of his labour : frequently 
preferring idleness to an abatement of a tittle of 
his independence, or a cent in his wages. But 
when these embarrassing points were once satisfac- 
torily arranged, he would shoulder his axe and his 
rifle, slip his arms through the straps of his pack, 
and enter the woods with the tread of a Hercules. 
His first object was to learn his limits, round which 
he would pace, occasionally freshening, with a blow 
of his axe, the marks on the boundary trees; and 
then he would proceed, with an air of great de- 
liberation, to the centre of his premises, and, 
throwing aside his superfluous garments, he would 
measure, with a knowing eye, one or two of the 
nearest trees, that were towering apparently into the 
very clouds, as he gazed upwards. Commonly se- 
lecting one of the most noble, for the first trial of 
his power, he would approach it with a listless 
air, whistling a low tune ; and wielding his axe, 
with a certain flourish, not unlike the salutes of a 
fencing master, he would strike a light blow into 
the bark, and measure his distance. The pause 
that followed was ominous of the fall of the forest, 
that had flourished there for centuries. The heavy 
and brisk blows that he struck were soon succeeded 
by the thundering report of the tree, as it came, 
first cracking and threatening, with the separation 
of its own last ligaments, then thrashing and tear- 
ing with its branches the tops of its surrounding 
brethren, and finally meeting the ground with a 
shock but little inferior to an earthquake. From 
that moment the sounds of the axe would be cease- 
less, while the falling of the trees was like a dis- 
tant cannonading ; and the daylight broke into the 


THE PIONEERS. 


249 


depths of the woods with almost the suddenness 
of a winter morning. 

For days, weeks, nay, months, Billy Kirby would 
toil, with an ardour that evinced his native spirit, 
and with an effect that seemed magical, until, his 
chopping being ended, his stentorian lungs could 
be heard emitting sounds, as he called to his patient 
oxen, the assistants in his labour, which rung 
through the hills like the cries of an alarm. He 
had been often heard, on a mild summer’s evening, 
a long mile across the vale of Templeton ; when 
the echoes from the mountains would take up his 
cries, until they died away in the feeble sounds 
from the distant rocks that overhung the lake. 
His piles, or, to use the language of the country, 
his logging, ended, with a despatch that could only 
accompany his dexterity and Herculean strength, 
the jobber would collect together his implements 
of labour, light the heaps of timber, and march 
away, under the blaze of the prostrate forest, like 
the conqueror of some city, who, having first pre- 
vailed over his adversary, places the final torch of 
destruction, as the finishing’ blow to his conquest. 
For a long time Billy Kirby would then be seen, 
sauntering around the taverns, the rider of scrub- 
races, the bully of cock-fights, and not unfrequently 
the hero of such sports as the one in hand. 

Between him and the Leather-stocking there 
had long existed a jealous rivalry, on the point of 
their respective skill in shooting. Notwithstand- 
ing the long practice of Natty, it was commonly 
supposed that the steady nerves and quick eye of 
the wood-chopper rendered him his equal. Their 
competition had, however, been confined hitherto 
to boastings, and comparisons made from their suc- 
cesses in their various hunting excursions ; but this 
was the first time that they had ever come in open 


250 


THE PIONEERS. 


collision. A good deal of higgling about the price 
of the choicest bird, had taken place between Billy 
Kirby and its owmer, before Natty and bis compa- 
nions rejoined the sportsmen. It had, however, 
been settled at one shilling a shot, which was the 
highest sum ever exacted, the black taking care to 
protect himself from losses, as much as possible, 
by the conditions of the sport. The turkey was 
already fastened at the “ mark,” but its body was 
entirely hid by the surrounding snow, nothing being 
visible but its red swelling head, and long proud 
neck. If the bird was injured by any bullet that 
struck below the snow, it was still to continue the 
property of its present owner, but if a feather was 
touched in a visible part, the animal became the 
prize of the successful adventurer. 

These terms were loudly proclaimed from the 
mouth of the negro, who was seated in the snow, 
in a somewhat hazardous vicinity to his favourite 
bird, as Elizabeth and her cousin, the newly ap 
pointed executive chief of the county, approached 
the noisy sportsmen. The sounds of mirth and 
contention sensibly lowered at this unexpected 
visit; but, after a moment’s pause, the curious 
interest exhibited in the face of the young lady, 
together with her smiling air, restored the freedom 
of the morning ; though it was somewhat chastened, 
both in language and vehemence, by the presence 
of such a spectator to their proceedings. 

fC Stand out of the way there, boys !” cried the 
wood-chopper, who was placing himself at the 
shooting point — “ stand out of the way, you little 
rascals, or I w T ill shoot through you. Now, Brom, 
you may say good-by to that turkey.” 

“ Stop !” cried the young hunter; “ I am a can- 
didate for a chance too. Here is my shilling, Brom; 
[ wish a shot too ” 


THE PIONEERS. 


251 


u Yoti may wish it in welcome,” cried Kirby, 
* but if I ruffle the gobbler’s feathers, how are you 
tc get it ? Is money so plenty in your deer-skin 
pocket, that you pay for a chance that you may 
never have ?” 

How know you, sir, how plenty money is in 
my pocket ?” said the youth, fiercely. “ Here is 
my shilling, Brom, and I claim a right to shoot.” 

“ Don’t be crabbed, my boy,” said the other, 
who was very coolly fixing his flint. “ They say 
you have a hole in your left shoulder, yourself : so 
I think Brom may give you a fire for half price 
It will take a keen one to hit that bird, I can tell 
you, my lad, even if I give you a chance, which is 
a thing I have no mind to do.” 

“ Don’t be boasting, Billy Kirby,” said Natty, 
throwing the breech of his rifle into the snow, and 
leaning on its barrel ; “ you’ll get but one shot at 
the creater, for if the lad misses his aim, which 
wouldn’t be a wonder if he did, with his arm so 
stiff and sore, you’ll find a good piece and an old 
eye coming a’ter you. Maybe it’s true that I can’t 
shoot as I used to could, but a hundred yards is but 
a short distance for a long rifle.” 

“ What, old Leather-stocking, are you out this 
morning,” cried his reckless opponent. u Well, 
fair play’s a jewel. But I’ve the lead of you, old 
fellow ; so here goes, for a dry throat or a good 
dinner.” 

The countenance of the negro evinced not only 
all the interest which his pecuniary adventure 
might occasion, but also the keen excitement that 
the sport produced in the others, though with a 
very different wish as to the result. While the 
wood-chopper was slowly and steadily raising his 
rifle, he exclaimed — 

u Fair play, Billy Kirby — stand back — make ’em 


?52 


THE PIONLERS. 


stand back, boys — gib a nigger fair play — poss-up- 
gobbler ; shake ahead, fool ; don’t a see ’em pokin 
gun at ’em ?” 

These cries, which were intended as much to 
distract the attention of the marksman, as for any 
thing else, were, however, fruitless. The nerves 
of the wood-chopper were not so easily shaken, 
and he took his aim with the utmost deliberation. 
The dead stillness of expectation prevailed for a 
moment, and he fired. The head of the turkey 
was seen to dash on one side, and its wings were 
spread in momentary fluttering ; but it settled it- 
self down, calmly, into its bed of snow, and glanced 
its eyes uneasily around. For a time long enough 
to draw a deep breath, not a sound was heard. 
The silence was then broken, by the noise of the 
negro, who laughed, and shook his body, with all 
kinds of antics, rolling over in the snow with the 
excess of his delight. 

u Well done a gobbler,” he cried, jumping up, 
and affecting to embrace his bird ; “ I tell ’em to 
poss-up, and you see ’em dodge. Gib anoder shil- 
lin, Billy, and hab anoder shot.” 

“ No — the shot is mine,” said the young hunter ; 
“ you have my money already. Leave the mark, 
and let me try my luck.” 

“ Ah ! it’s but money thrown away, lad,” said 
Leather-stocking. “ A turkey’s head and neck is 
but a small mark for a new hand and a lame shoul- 
der. You’d best let me take the fire, and maybe 
we can make some sittlement with the lady about 
the bird.” 

“ The chance is mine,” said the young hunter. 
M Clear the ground, that I may take it.” 

The discussions and disputes concerning the last 
shot were now abating, it having been determined, 

at if the turkey’s head had been any where but 


THE PIONEERS. 


253 


just where it was at the moment, the bird must 
certainly have been killed. There was not much 
excitement produced by the preparations of the 
youth, who proceeded in a hurried manner to take 
his aim, and was in the act of pulling the trigger, 
when he was stopped by Natty. 

• “ Your hand shakes, lad,” he said, “ and you 

seem over eager. Bullet wownds are apt to weak- 
en the flesh, and, to my judgment, you’ll not shoot 
so well as in common. If you will fire, you should 
shoot quick, before there is time to shake off the 
aim.” 

“ Fair play,” again shouted the negro ; “ fail 
play — gib a nigger fair play. What right a Nat- 
Bumppo tell a young man ? Let ’em shoot — clear 
a ground.” 

The youth fired with great rapidity ; but no mo- 
tion was made by the turkey ; and when the exa- 
miners for the ball returned from the “ mark,” they 
declared that he had missed the stump. 

Elizabeth observed the change in his counte* 
nance, and could not help feeling surprise, that one 
so evidently superior to his companions, should 
feel a trifling loss so sensibly. But her own cham- 
pion was now preparing to enter the lists. 

The mirth of Brom, which had been again ex- 
cited, though in a much smaller degree than be- 
fore, by the failure of the second adventurer, va- 
nished, the instant that Natty took his stand. His 
skin became mottled with large brown spots, that 
sullied the lustre of his native ebony most fearfully, 
while his enormous lips gradually compressed 
around the two rows of ivory, that had hitherto 
been shining in his visage, like pearls set in jet. 
His nostrils, at all times the most conspicuous fea- 
tures of his face, dilated, until they covered the 
22 


254 


THE PIONEERS. 


greater part of the diameter of his countenance ; 
while his brown and bony hands unconsciously 
grasped the snow-crust near him, the excitement 
of the moment completely overcoming his native 
dread of cold. 

While these indications of apprehension were 
exhibited in the sable owner of the turkey, the 
man who gave rise to this extraordinary emotion 
was as calm and collected, as if there was not to 
be a single spectator of his skill. 

“ I was down in the Dutch settlements on the 
Scoharie,” said Natty, carefully removing the 
leather guard from the lock of his rifle, “jist be- 
fore the breaking out of the last war, and there 
was a shooting-match among the boys ; so I took 
hand in it myself. I think I opened a good many 
Dutch eyes that very day, for I won the powder- 
horn, three bars of lead, and a pound of as good 
powder as ever flashed in the pan of a gun. Lord ! 
how they did swear in Garman ! They did tell 
of one drunken Dutchman, who said he’d have 
the life of me, before I got back to the lake ag’in. 
But if he had put his rifle to his shoulder with 
evil intent, God would have punished him for it ; 
and even if the Lord didn’t, and he had missed his 
aim, I know one that would have given him as 
good as he sent, and better too, if good shooting 
could come into the ’count.” 

By this time the old hunter was ready for his 
business, and throwing his right leg far behind him, 
and stretching his left arm along the barrel of his 
piece, he raised it towards the bird. Every eye 
glanced rapidly from the marksman to the mark , 
but at the moment when each ear was expecting 
the report of the rifle, they were disappointed by 
the ticking sound of the flint only. 


THE PIONKF.RS. 


255 


“ A snap- -a snap,” shouted the negro, springing 
from his crouching posture, like a madman, before 
his bird. “ A snap as good as a fire — Natty Bump- 
po gun he snap — Natty Bumppo miss a turkey.” 

“ Natty Bumppo hit a nigger,” said the indig- 
nant old hunter, “ if you don’t get out of the way, 
Brom. It’s contrary to the reason of the thing, 
boy, that a snap should count for a fire, when one 
is nothing more than a fire-stone striking a steel 
pan, and the other is good lead, ay ! and with a 
good aim ; so get out of my way, boy, and let me 
show Billy Kirby how to shoot a Christmas tur- 
key.” 

“ Gib a nigger fair play !” cried the black, who 
continued resolutely to maintain his post. “ Eb- 
bery body know dat snap as good as fire. Leab it 
to Massa Jone — leab it to lady.” 

“ Sartain,” said the wood-chopper ; “ it’s the 
law of the game in this part of the country, Lea- 
ther-stocking. If you fire ag’in, you must pay up 
the other shilling. I b’lieve I’ll try luck once more 
myself ; so, Brom, here’s my money, and I take 
the next fire.” 

“ It’s likely you know the laws of the woods 
better than I do, Billy Kirby !” returned Natty. 
“You come in with the settlers, with an ox goad 
in your hand, and I come in with moccasins on my 
feet, and with a good rifle on my shoulder, so long 
back as afore the old war. Which is likely to know 
the best ? I say, no man need tell me that snap- 
ping is as good as firing, when I pull the trigger.” 

“ Leab it to Massa Jone,” said the alarmed ne- 
gro ; “ he know ebbery ting.” 

This appeal to the knowledge of Richard was 
too flattering to be unheeded. He therefore ad- 
vanced a little from the spot whither the delicacy 
of Elizabeth had induced her to withdraw, and 


256 


THE PIONEERS. 


gave the following opinion, with all the gravit} 
that the subject and his own rank demanded : — 

“ There seems to be a difference in opinion,” 
he said, u on the subject of Nathaniel Bumppo’s 
right to shoot at Abraham Freeborn’s turkey, with- 
out the said Nathaniel paying one shilling for the 
privilege.” This fact was too self-evident to be 
denied, and, after pausing a moment, that the audi- 
ence might digest his premises, Richard proceed- 
ed : — “ It seems proper that I should decide this 
question, as 1 am bound to preserve the peace of 
the county ; and men with deadly weapons in theii 
hands should not be heedlessly left to contention, and 
their own malignant passions. It appears that there 
was no agreement, either in writing or in words, 
on the disputed point ; therefore we must reason 
" om analogy, which is, as it were, comparing one 
hing with another. Now, in duels, where both 
parties shoot, it is generally the rule that a snap is 
a fire ; and if such is the rule, where the party has 
a right to fire back again, it seems to me unreason- 
able to say, that a man may stand snapping at that 
turkey all day. I therefore am of opinion, that 
Nathaniel Bumppo has lost his chance, and must 
pay another shilling before he renews his right.” 

As this opinion came from such a high quarter, 
and was delivered with so much effect, it silenced 
all murmurs, — for the whole of the spectators had 
begun to take sides with great warmth, — except 
from the Leather-stocking himself. 

“ I think Miss Elizabeth’s thoughts should be 
taken,” said Natty. u I’ve known the squaws give 
very good counsel, when the Indians have been 
dumb foundered in their notions. If she says that 
f ought to lose, I agree to give it up.” 

“ Then l adjudge you to be a loser, for this time,” 
said Miss Temple ; “ but pay your money, and re- 


THE PIONEERS. 


257 


new your chance ; unless Brom will sell me the 
bird for a dollar. I will give him the money, and 
save the life of the poor victim.” 

This proposition was evidently but little relish- 
ed by any of the listeners, even the negro feeling 
unwdlling to lose the sport, though he lost his tur- 
key. In the mean while, as Billy Kirby was prepar 
ing himself for another shot, Natty left the goal, 
with an extremely dissatisfied manner, muttering 
to himself, and speaking aloud — 

a There hasn’t been such a thing as a good flint 
sold at the foot of the lake, since the time when 
the Indian traders used to come into the country ; 
— and if a body should go into the flats along the 
streams in the hills, to hunt for such a thing, it’s 
ten to one but they will be all covered up with 
the plough. Heigho ! it seems to me, that just 
as the game grows scarce, and a body wants the 
best of ammunition, to get a livelihood, eveiy 
thing that’s bad falls on him, like a judgment. But 
I’ll change the stone, for Billy Kirby hasn’t the 
eye for such a mark, I know.” 

The wood chopper seemed now entirely sensi- 
ble that his reputation in a great measure depend- 
ed on his care ; nor did he neglect any means to 
ensure his success. He drew up his rifle, and re- 
newed his aim, again and again, still appearing re- 
luctant to fire. No sound was heard from even 
Brom, during these portentous movements, until 
Kirby discharged his piece, with the same w r ant of 
success as before. Then, indeed, the shouts of the 
negro rung through the bushes, and sounded among 
the trees of the neighbouring forest, like the out- 
2ries of a tribe of Indians. He laughed, rolling his 
head, first on one side, then on the other, until na- 
ture seemed exhausted with mirth. He danced, 
until his legs were wearied with motion, in the 
22 * 


258 


THE PIONEERS. 


snow ; and, in short, he exhibited all that violence 
of joy that characterizes the mirth of a thoughtless 
negro. 

The wood-chopper had exerted his art, and felt 
a proportionate degree of disappointment at his 
failure. He first examined the bird with the ut- 
most attention, and more than once suggested that 
he had touched its feathers ; but the voice of the 
multitude was against him, for it felt disposed to 
listen to the often-repeated cries of the black, to 
tc gib a nigger fair play.” 

Finding it impossible to make out a title to the 
bird, Kirby turned fiercely to the black, and said — 
“ Shut your oven, you crow ! Where is the man 
that can hit a turkey’s head at a hundred yards ? 
I was a fool for trying. You needn’t make an up- 
roar, like a falling pine-tree, about it. Show me 
the man who can do it.” 

a Look this a- way, Billy Kirby,” said Leather- 
stocking, “ and let them clear the mark, and I’ll 
show you a man who’s made better shots afore 
now, and that when lie’s been hard pressed by the 
savages and wild beasts.” 

“ Perhaps there is one whose rights come before 
ours, Leather-stocking,” said Miss Temple ; “ if 
so, we will waive our privilege.” 

u If it be -me that you have reference to, madam,” 
said the young hunter, u I shall decline another 
chance. My shoulder is yet weak, I find.” 

Elizabeth regarded his proud, but forced man- 
ner, and even thought that she could discern a 
tinge on his cheek, that spoke the shame of con- 
scious poverty. She said no more, but suffered 
her own champion to make a trial. 

Although .Natty Bumppo had certainly made 
nundreds of more momentous shots, at his enemies 
or his game, yet he never exerted himself more to 


THE PIONEERS. 


259 


excel. He raised his piece three several times; 
once to get his range ; once to calculate his dis- 
tance ; and once because the bird, alarmed by the 
deathlike stillness that prevailed, turned its head 
quickly, to examine its foes. But the fourth time 
he fired. The smoke, the report, and the momen- 
tary shock, prevented most of the spectators from 
instantly knowing the result ; hut Elizabeth, when 
she saw her champion drop the end of his rifle in 
the snow, and open his mouth in one of its silent 
laughs, and then proceed very coolly to recharge 
his piece, knew that he had been successful. The 
boys rushed to the mark, and lifted the turkey on 
high, lifeless, and w T ith nothing but the remnant of 
a head. 

“ Bring in the creater,” said Leather-stocking, 
u and put it at the feet of the lady. I was her de- 
puty in the matter, and the bird is her property.” 

u And a good deputy you have proved your- 
self,” returned Elizabeth — “ so good, cousin Ri- 
chard, that I would advise you to remember his 
qualities.” She paused, and the gayety that beam- 
ed on her face gave place to a more serious ear- 
nestness. She even blushed a little as she turned 
to the young hunter, and, with the insinuating 
charm of a woman’s best manner, added — “ But it 
was only to see an exhibition of the far-famed skill 
of Leather-stocking, that I tried my fortunes. Will 
you, sir, accept the bird, as a small peace-offering, 
for the hurt that prevented your own success ?” 

The expression with which the youth received 
this present was indescribable. He appeared to 
yield to the exquisite blandishment of her air, in 
opposition to a strong inward impulse to the con- 
trary. He bowed, and raised the victim silently 
from her feet, but continued silent 

Elizabeth handed the black a piece of silver as 


260 


THE PIONEERS. 


a remuneration for his loss, which had some effect 
in again unbending his muscles, and then express- 
ed to her companion her readiness to return home- 
ward. 

“Wait a minute, cousin Bess,” cried Richard; 
“ there is an uncertainty about the rules of this 
sport, that it is proper I should remove. If you 
will appoint a committee, gentlemen, to wait on 
me this morning, I will draw up in writing a set 
of regulations ” He stopped, w T ith some indig- 

nation, to see who it was that so familiarly laid his 
hand on the shoulder of the High Sheriff of . 

“ A merry Christmas to you, cousin. Dickon,” 
said Judge Temple, who had approached the party 
unperceived : “ I must have a vigilant eye to my 
daughter, sir, if you are to be seized daily with 
these gallant fits. I admire the taste, which would 
introduce a lady to such scenes !” 

u It is her own perversity, ’duke,” cried the dis 
appointed Sheriff, who felt the loss of the first sa - 
lutation as grievously as many a man would a much 
greater misfortune ; “ and I must say that she comes 
honestly by it. I led her out to show her the im- 
provements, but away she scampered, through the 
snow, at the. first sound of the fire-arms, the same 
as if she had been brought up in a camp, instead of 
a first-rate boarding-school. I do think, Judge 
Temple, that such dangerous amusements should 
be suppressed by law ; nay, I doubt whether they 
are not already indictable at common law.” 

u Well, sir, as you are Sheriff of the county, it 
becomes your duty to examine into the matter,” 
returned the smiling Marmaduke. “ I perceive 
that Bess has executed her commission, and I hope 
it met with a favourable reception.” 

Richard glanced his eye at the packet, which he 


THE PIONEERS. 


261 


held in his hand, and the slight anger produced by 
his disappointment vanished instantly. 

“ Ah ! ’duke, my dear cousin,” he said, “ step a 
little on one side ; 1 have something I would say 
to you.” Marmaduke complied, and the Sheriff 
led him to a little distance in the bushes, and con- 
tinued — “ First, ’duke, let me thank you for your 
friendly interest with the Council and the Govern- 
or, without which, 1 am confident, that the greatest 
merit would avail but little. But we are sisters’ 
children — we are sisters’ children ; and you may 
use me like one of your horses ; ride me or drive 
me, ’duke, I am wholly yours. But in my humble 
opinion, this young companion of Leather-stocking 
requires looking after. He has a very dangerous 
propensity for turkey.” 

“ Leave him to my management, Dickon,” said 
the Judge, gravely, w and I will cure his appetite 
by indulgence. It is with him that I would speak. 
Let us rejoin the sportsmen.” 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


“Poor wretch I the mother that him bare, 
If she had been in presence there, 

In his wan face, and sun-burnt hair. 

She had not known her child.” 

Scott. 


It diminished, in no degree, the effect produced 
by the conversation which passed between Judge 
Temple and the young hunter, that the former took 
the arm of his daughter, and drew it through his 
own, when he advanced from the spot whither Ri- 
chard had led him to where the youth was stand 
ing, in a musing attitude, leaning on his rifle, and 
apparently contemplating the dead bird that lay at 
his feet. The presence of Marmaduke did not in- 
terrupt the sports, which were resumed, by loud 
and clamorous disputes concerning the conditions 
of a chance, that involved the life of a bird ol much 
inferior quality to the last. Leather-stocking and 
Mohegan had alone drawn aside to the place where 
stood their youthful companion ; and, although m 
the immediate vicinity of such a throng, the fol- 
lowing conversation was heard only by those who 
were interested in it. 

“ I have greatly injured you, Mr. Edwards,” said 
the Judge ; but the sudden and inexplicable start, 
with which the person spoken to received this un- 
expected address, caused him to pause a moment 


THE PIONEERS. 


263 


in manifest surprise, also. As no answer was given, 
and the strong emotion exhibited in the counte- 
nance of the youth gradually passed away, he con- 
tinued — u But, fortunately, it is in some measure 
in my power to compensate you for what I have 
done. My kinsman, Richard Jones, has received 
an appointment that will, in future, deprive me of 
his assistance, and leaves me, just now, destitute of 
one who might greatly aid me with his pen. Your 
manner, notwithstanding appearances, is a suffi- 
cient proof of jour education, nor will thy shoul- 
der suffer thee to labour, for some time to come. 
My doors are open to thee, my young friend, for 
in this infant country we harbour no suspicions . 
little offering to tempt the cupidity of the evil dis- 
posed. Become my assistant, for at least a season, 
and receive such compensation as thy services will 
deserve.” 

There was nothing in the manner or the offer 
of the Judge to justify the reluctance, amounting 
nearly to loathing, with which the youth listened 
to his speech : but after a powerful effort, as if for 
self-command, he replied — 

“ I would serve you, sir, or any other man, for 
an honest support, for I do not affect to conceal 
that my necessities are very great, even beyond 
what appearances would indicate ; but 1 am fearful 
that such new duties would interfere too much with 
more important business : so that I must decline 
your offer, and depend on my rifle, as before, for 
my subsistence.” 

Richard here took occasion to whisper to the 
young lady, who had shrunk a little from the fore- 
ground of the picture — 

“ This, you see, cousin Bess, is the natural re 
luctance of a half-breed to leave the savage stale. 


264 


THE PIONEERS. 


Their attachment to a wandering life is, I verily 
believe, unconquerable.” 

“ It is a precarious life,” observed Marmaduke, 
without hearing the Sheriff’s observation, “ and 
one that brings more evils with it than present suf- 
fering. Trust me, my young friend, my experi- 
ence is greater than thine, when I tell thee, that 
the unsettled life of these hunters is of vast disad- 
vantage for temporal purposes, and it totally re- 
moves one from within the influence of more sacred 
things.” 

“ No, no, Judge,” interrupted the Leather-stock- 
ing, who was hitherto unseen, or disregarded ; 

“ take him into your shanty in welcome, but tell 
him the raal thing. I have lived in the woods for 
forty long years, and have spent five years at a 
time without seeing the light of a clearing bigger 
than a wind-row in the trees; and I should like to 
know where you’ll find a man, in his sixty-eighth 
year, who can get an easier living, for all your bet- 
terments, and your deer-laws : and, as for honesty, 
or doing what’s right between man and man, i’ll 
not turn my back to the longest winded deacon on 
your patent.” 

u Thou art an exception, Leather-stocking,” re- 
turned the Judge, nodding good-naturedly at the 
hunter ; M for thou hast a temperance unusual in 
thy class, and a hardihood exceeding thy years.- 
But this youth is made of materials too precious to 
be wasted in the forest. 1 entreat thee to join my 
family, if it be but till thy arm be healed. My 
daughter here, who is mistress of my dwelling, will 
tell thee that thou art welcome.” 

“ Certainly,” said Elizabeth, whose earnestness 
was strongly checked by the assumption of a wo- — . 
man’s dignity. u The unfortunate would be wel- 


THE PIONEERS. 


265 


£ome at any time, but doubly so, when we feel that 
we have occasioned the evil ourselves.” 

“ Yes,” said Richard, w and if you relish turkey, 
young man, there are plenty in the coops, and those 
of the best kind, I can assure you.” 

Finding himself thus ably seconded, Marmaduke 
pushed his advantage to the utmost. He entered 
into a detail of the duties that would attend the 
situation, and circumstantially mentioned the re- 
ward, and all those points which are deemed of 
importance among men of business. The youth 
listened in extreme agitation. There was an evi- 
dent contest in his feelings ; at times he appeared 
to wish eagerly for the change, and then again the 
incomprehensible expression of disgust would cross 
his handsome features, like a dark cloud obscuring 
a noonday sun. 

The Indian, in whose manner the depression of 
self-abasement was most powerfully exhibited, lis- 
tened to the offers of the Judge with an interest 
that increased with each syllable. Gradually he 
drew nigher to the group ; and when, with his keen 
glance, he detected the most marked evidence of 
yielding in the countenance of his young compa- 
nion, he changed at once from his attitude and look 
of shame to the fearless and proud front of an In- 
dian warrior, and moving, with great dignity, closer 
to the parties, he spoke in his turn. 

“ Listen to your Father,” he said, u for his 
words are old. Let the Young Eagle and the 
Great Land Chief eat together; let them sleep, 
without fear, near to each other. The children of 
Miquon love not blood ; they are just, and will do 
right. The sun must rise and set often, before 
men can make one iamily ; it is not the work of a 
day, but of many winters. The Mingoes and the 
Delawares are born enemies ; their blood can never 
23 


266 


THE PIONEERS. 


mix in the wigwam : it never will run in the same 
stream in the battle. What makes the brother ol 
Miquon and the Young Eagle foes ? They are of the 
same tribe : their fathers and mothers are one. 
Learn to wait, my son : you have Delaware blood, 
and an Indian warrior knows how to be patient.” 

This figurative address seemed to have great 
weight with the young man, who gradually yielded 
to the representations of Marmaduke, and eventu- 
ally consented to his proposal. It was, however, 
to be an experiment only ; and if either of the par- 
ties thought fit to rescind the engagement, it was 
left at his option so to do. The remarkable and 
ill-concealed reluctance of the youth to accept of 
an offer, which most men in his situation would 
consider as an unhoped-for elevation, occasioned 
no little surprise in those of the spectators to whom 
he was a stranger ; and it left a slight impression to 
his disadvantage. When the parties separated, 
they very naturally made the subject the topic of 
a conversation, which we shall relate ; first com- 
mencing with the Judge, his daughter, and Richard, 
who were slowly pursuing the way back to the 
Mansion-house. 

“ I have surely endeavoured to remember the 
holy mandates of our Redeemer, when he bids us 
to c love them who despitefully use you,’ in my 
intercourse with this incomprehensible boy,” said 
Marmaduke. “ I know not what there is in my 
dwelling to frighten a lad of his years, unless i/ 
may be thy presence and visage, Bess.” 

“ No, no,” said Richard, with great simplicity in 
his manner; “it is not cousin Bess. But when 
did you ever know a half-breed, ’duke, who could 
bear civilization ? For that matter, they are worse 
than the savages themselves. Did you notice how 


THE PIONEERS. 


267 


knock-kneed he stood, Elizabeth, and what a wild 
look he had in his eyes ?” 

“ I heeded not his eyes, sir,” returned the maid- 
en, u nor his knees, which would be all the better for 
a little humbling. Really, my dear sir, I think you 
did exercise the Christian virtue of patience to the 
utmost. I was disgusted with his airs, long before he 
consented to make one in our family. Truly, we are 
much honoured by the association ! In what apart- 
ment is he to be placed, sir ; and at what table is 
he to receive his nectar and ambrosia ?” 

u With Benjamin and Remarkable,” interrupted 
Mr. Jones ; “ you surely would not make the youth 
eat with the blacks ! He is part Indian, it is true, 
but the natives hold the negroes in great contempt. 
No, no — he would starve before he would break a 
crust with the negroes.” 

u I am but too happy, Dickon, to tempt him to 
eat with ourselves,” said Marmaduke, M to think 
of offering even the indignity you propose.” 

“ Then, sir,” said Elizabeth, with an air thai 
was slightly affected, as if submitting to her father’s 
orders in opposition to her own will, “ it is you* 
pleasure that he be a gentleman.” 

“ Certainly ; he is to fill the station of one ; 
him receive the treatment that is due to his place, 
until we find him unworthy of it.” 

“ Well, well, ’duke,” cried the Sheriff, “ you will 
find it no easy matter to make a gentleman of him. 
The old proverb says, ‘ that it takes three genera- 
tions to make a gentleman.’ There was my father, 
whom every body knew ; my grandfather was an 
M. D. ; and his father a D. D. ; and his father came 
from England. I never could come at the truth of 
his origin, but he was either a great merchant, in 
London, or a great country lawyer.” 

“ Here is a true American genealogy for you, 


268 


THE PIONEERS. 


said Marmaduke, laughing. “ It does very well, 
till you get across the water, where, as every 
thing is obscure, it is certain to deal in the superla- 
tive. You are sure that your English progenitor wa« 
great, Dickon, whatever his profession might be ?” 

u To be sure I am,” returned the other ; “ 1 
have heard my old aunt talk of him by the month 
We are of a good family, Judge Temple, and have 
never filled any but honourable stations in life.” 

“ I marvel that you should be satisfied with so 
scanty a provision of gentility, in the olden time, 
Dickon. Most of the American genealogists com- 
mence their traditions, like the stories for children, 
with three brothers, taking especial care that one 
of the triumvirate shall be the progenitor of any of 
the same name who may happen to be better fur- 
nished with worldly gear than themselves. But, 
here, all are equal who know how to conduct 
themselves with propriety; and Oliver Edwards 
comes into my family on a footing with both the 
High Sheriff and the Judge.” 

u Well, ’duke, I call this democracy, not repub- 
licanism ; but I say nothing ; only let him keep 
within the law, or I shall show him, that the free- 
dom of even this country is under wholesome re- 
vaint.” 

u Surely, Dickon, you will not execute till I con- 
demn !” said Marmaduke. u But what says Bess 
to the new inmate ? We must pay a deference to 
the ladies, in this matter, after all.” 

u Oh ! sir,” returned Elizabeth, “ I believe I am 
much like a certain Judge Temple, in this particu- 
lar ; not easily to be turned from my opinion. But, 
to be serious, although I must think the introduc- 
tion of a demi-savage into the family a somewhat 
startling event, whomsoever you think proper to 
countenance may be sure of my respect.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


269 


The judge drew her arm more closely in his 
own, and smiled, while Richard led the way 
through the gate of the little court-yard in the rear 
of the dwelling, dealing out his ambiguous warn- 
ings, with his accustomed loquacity. 

On the other hand, the foresters — for the three 
hunters, notwithstanding their great difference in 
character, well deserved this common name — pur- 
sued their course along the skirts of the village in 
silence. It was not until they had reached the 
lake, and were moving over its frozen surface, to- 
wards the foot of the mountain, where their hut 
stood, that the youth exclaimed — 

“ Who could have foreseen this, a montn since ! 
I have consented to serve Marmaduke Temple ? 
to be an inmate in the dwelling of the greatest ene- 
my of my race ! Y et what better could I do ? The 
servitude cannot be long, and when the motive for 
submitting to it ceases to exist, I will shake it off, 
like the dust from my feet.” 

<c Is he a Mingo, that you will call him enemy ?” 
said Mohegan. “ The Delaware warrior sits still, 
and waits the time of the Great Spirit. He is no 
woman, to cry out like a child.” 

“ Well, I’m mistrustful, John,” said Leather- 
stocking, in whose air there had been, during the 
whole business, a strong expression of doubt and 
uncertainty. “ They say that there’s new laws in 
the land, and I am sartain that there’s new ways 
in the mountains. One hardly knows the lakes and 
streams, they’ve altered the country so much. I 
must say I’m mistrustful of such smooth speakers ; 
for I’ve known the whites talk fair, when they 
wanted the Indian lands most. This I will say, 
‘hough I’m white myself, and was born nigh York, 
and of honest parents too.” 

a l will submit,” said the youth; I will forget 
23 * 


270 


THE PIONEERS. 


who I am. Cease to remember, old Mohegan, that 
I am the descendant of a Delaware chief, who once 
was master of these noble hills, these beautiful 
vales,' and of this water, over which we tread. 
Yes, yes — I will become bis bondsman — his slave ’ 
Is it not an honourable servitude, old man 

“ Old man !” repeated the Indian, solemnly, and 
pausing in his walk, as usual, when much excited — 
u yes ; John is old. Son of my brother ! if Mohe 
gan was young, when would his rifle be still ? 
where would the deer hide, and he not find him ? 
But John is old ; his hand is the hand of a squaw ; 
his tomahawk is a hatchet ; brooms and baskets 
are his enemies — he strikes no other. — Hunger 
and old age come together. See, Hawk-eye ! when 
young, he would go days and eat nothing; but 
should he not put the brush on the fire now, the 
blaze would go out. Take the son of Miquon by 
the hand, and he will help you.” 

“ I’m not the man I was, I’ll own, Chingach- 
gook,” returned the Leather-stocking ; “ but I can 
go without a meal now, on occasion. When we 
tracked the Iroquois through the c Beech-w^oods,’ 
they druv the game afore them, for I hadn’t a mor- 
sel to eat from Monday morning come Wednes- 
day sundown ; and then I shot as fat a buck, on 
the Pennsylvany line, as you ever laid eyes on 
It w^ould have done your heart raal good to have 
seen the Delawares eat — for I was out scouting 
and scrimmaging with theii tribe, at the very time. 
Lord ! the Indians, lad, lay still, and just waited 
till Providence should send them their game ; but 
I foraged about, and put a deer up, and put him 
down too, ’fore he had made a dozen jumps. I was 
too weak, and too ravenous to stop for his flesh ; 
so I took a good drink of his blood, and the Indians 
eat of his meat raw. John was there, and John 


THE PIONEERS. 


271 


knows. But then starvation would be apt to be 
too much for me now, 1 will own, though I’m no 
great eater at any time.” 

“ Enough is said, my friends,” cried the youth. 
“ I feel that every where the sacrifice is required 
at my hands, and it shall be made ; but say no 
more, I entreat you ; I cannot bear this subject 
now.” 

His companions were silent, and they soon reach- 
ed the hut, which they entered, after removing 
certain complicated and ingenious fastenings, that 
were put there, apparently to guard a property of 
hut very little value. Immense piles of snow lay 
against the log walls of this secluded habitation, on 
one side, while fragments of small trees and 
branches of oak and chestnut, that had been torn 
from their parent stems by the winds, were thrown 
into a pile, on the other. A small column of smoke 
rose through a chimney of sticks, cemented with 
clay, along the side of the rock ; and had marked 
the snow above with its dark tinges, in a wavy 
line, from the point of emission to another, where 
the hill receded from the brow of a precipice, and 
held a soil that nourished trees of a gigantic 
growth, that overhung the little bottom beneath. 

The remainder of the day passed off as such 
days are commonly spent in a new country.— The 
settlers thronged to the academy again, to witness 
the second effort of Mr. Grant ; and Mohegan was 
one of his hearers. But, notwithstanding the Di- 
vine fixed his eyes intently on the Indian, when 
he invited his congregation to advance to the table, 
the shame of last night’s abasement was yet too 
keen in the old chief to suffer him to move. 

When the people were dispersing, the clouds, 
that had been gathering all the morning, were 
dense and dirty; and before half of the curious 


272 


THE PIONEERS. 


congregation had reached their different cabins, 
that were placed in every glen and hollow of the 
mountains, or perched on the summits of the hills 
themselves, the rain was falling in torrents. The 
dark edges of the stumps began to exhibit them- 
selves, as the snow settled rapidly; the fences of 
logs and brush, which before had been only traced 
by the long lines of white mounds, that ran across 
the valley and up the mountains, peeped out, in 
spots, from their light covering ; and the black 
stubs were momentarily becoming more distinct, 
as large masses of snow and ice fell from their 
sides, under the influence of the thaw. 

Sheltered in the warm hall of her father’s com- 
fortable mansion, Elizabeth, accompanied by Loui- 
sa Grant, looked abroad with admiration at the 
ever-varying face of things without. Even the 
village, which had just before been glittering with 
the colour of the frozen element, reluctantly drop- 
ped its mask, and the houses exposed their dark 
roofs and smoked chimneys. The pines shook off 
their covering of snow, and every thing seemed to 
be assuming its proper hue, with a rapidity of 
transition that bordered on the supernatural. 


CHAPTER XIX. 


“ And yet, poor Edwin was no vulgar boy.” 

Beattii 


The close of Christmas day, A D. 1793, w* i 
tempestuous, but comparatively warm. When 
darkness had again hid the objects in the village 
from the gaze of Elizabeth, she turned from the 
window, where she had remained while the leas* 
vestige of light lingered over the tops of the dark 
pines, with a curiosity that was rather excited than 
appeased by the passing glimpses of woodland 
scenery that she had caught during the day. 

With her arm locked in that of Miss Grant, the 
young mistress of the mansion walked slowly up 
and down the hall, musing on the scenes that were 
rapidly recurring to her memory, and possibly 
dwelling, at times, in the sanctuary of her thoughts, 
on the strange occurrences that had led to the in- 
troduction to her father’s family, of one, whose 
manners so singularly contradicted the inferences 
to be drawn from his situation. The expiring heat 
of the apartment, — for its great size required a day 
to reduce’its temperature, — had given to her cheeks 
a richness of bloom that exceeded their natural 
colour, while the mild and melancholy features of 


274 


THE PIONEERS. 


Louisa were brightened with a faint tinge, that, 
like the hectic glow of disease, gave a painful in- 
terest to her beauty. 

The eyes of the gentlemen, who were yet seat- 
ed around the rich wines of Judge Temple, fre- 
quently wandered from th 2 table, that was placed 
at one end of the hall, to the lovely forms that were 
silently moving over its length. Much mirth, and 
that, at times, of a boisterous kind, proceeded from 
the mouth of Richard ; but Major Hartmann was 
not yet excited to his pitch of merriment, and Mar- 
maduke respected the presence of his clerical 
guest too much, to indulge in even the innocent 
humour, that formed no small ingredient in his 
character. 

Such were, and such continued to be, the pur- 
suits of the party, for half an hour after the shut- 
ters were closed, and candles were placed in va- 
rious parts of the hall, as substitutes for the de- 
parting daylight. The appearance of Benjamin, 
staggering under the burthen of an armful of wood, 
was the first interruption to the scene. 

“ How now, Master Pump !” roared the newly 
appointed Sheriff; “ is there not warmth enough 
in ’duke’s best Madeira, to keep up the animal 
heat through this thaw ? Remember, old boy, 
that the Judge is particular with his beech and 
maple, beginning to dread, already, a scarcity of 
the precious articles. Ha! ha! ha! ’duke, you 
are a good, warm-hearted relation, I will own, as 
in duty bound, but you have some queer notions 
about you, after all. 4 Come, let us be jolly, and 
cast away folly’ ” 

The notes gradually sunk into a hum, while the 
Major-domo threw down his load, and turning to 
his interrogator with an air of great earnestness, 
he replied-— 


THE PIONEERS. 


275 


“ Why, look you, Squire Dickens, mayhap 
there’s a warm latitude round about tlte table there, 
thof it’s not the stuff to raise the heat in my body, 
neither ; the raal Jamaiky being the only thing to 
do that, beside good wood, or some such matter as 
Newcastle coal. But, if I know any thing of wea- 
ther, d’ye see, it’s time to be getting all snug, and 
for putting the ports in, and stirring the fires a bit. 
Mayhap I’ve not followed the seas twenty-seven 
years, and lived another seven in these here woods, 
for nothing, gemmen.” 

M Why, does it bid fair for a change in the wea 
ther, Benjamin ?” inquired the master of the house. 

“ There’s a shift of wind, your honour,” re- 
turned the steward ; u and when there’s a shift of 
wind, you may look for a change in this here cli- 
mate. I was aboard of one of Rodney’s fleet, d’ye 
see, about the time we licked De Grasse, Moun- 
sheer Ler Quaw’s countryman, there ; and the 
wind was here at the south’ard and east’ard ; and 1 
was below, mixing a toothful of hot-stuff for the 
Captain of marines, who dined, d’ye see, in the 
cabin, that there very same day ; and I suppose he 
wanted to put out the Captain’s fire with a gun- 
room ingyne : and so, just as I got it to my own 
liking, after tasting pretty often, for the soldier was 
difficult to please, slap came the fore-sail ag’in 
the mast, whiz went the ship round on her heel, 
like a whirligig. And a lucky thing was it that our 
helm was down ; for as she gathered starnway she 
payed off, which was more than every ship in the 
fleet did, or could do. But she strained herself in 
the trough of the sea, and she shipped a deal of 
water over her quarter. I never swallowed so 
much clear water at a time, in my life, as I did 
then, for I was looking up the aftei -hatch at the 
instant.” 


276 


THE PIONEERS. 


M I wonder, Benjamin, that you did not die with 
a dropsy !” said Marmaduke. 

“ I mought, Judge,” said the old tar, with a broad 
grin ; w but there was no need of the med’cine 
chest for a cure ; for, as I thought the brew was 
spoilt for the marine’s taste, and there was no-tell- 
ing when another sea might come and spoil it for 
mine, I finished the mug on the spot. So then all 
hands was called to the pumps, and there we be- 
gun to ply the pumps” 

“ Well, but the weather?” interrupted Marma- 
duke ; u what of the weather without doors ?” 

u Why, here the wind has been all day at the 
south, and now there’s a lull, as if the last blast 
was out of bellows ; and there’s a streak along the 
mountain, to the north’ard, that, just now, was’nt 
wider than the bigness of your hand ; and then the 
clouds drive afore it as you’d brail a mainsail, and 
the stars are heaving in sight, like so many lights 
and beacons, put there to warn us to pile on the 
wood ; and, if-so-be that I’m a judge of weather, 
it’s getting to be time to build on a fire ; or you’ll 
have half of them there porter bottles, and them 
dimmy-johns of wine, in the locker here, breaking 
with the frost, afore the morning watch is called.” 

“ Thou art a prudent sentinel,” said the Judge. 
“ Act thy pleasure with the forests, for this night 
at least.” 

Benjamin did as he was ordered ; nor had two 
hours elapsed, before the prudence of his precau- 
tions became very visible. The south wind had, 
indeed, blown itself out, and it was succeeded by 
the calmness that usually gave warning of a serious 
change in the weather. Long before the family 
retired to rest, the cold had become cuttingly se- 
vere ; and when Monsieur Le Quoi sallied forth, 
under a bright moon, to seek his own abode, he 


THE PIONEERS. 


271 


was compelled to beg a blanket, in which he might 
envelope his form, in addition to the numerous 
garments that his sagacity had provided for the oc- 
casion. The divine and his daughter remained, as 
inmates of the Mansion-house, during the night, 
and the excess of last night’s merriment induced 
the gentlemen to make an early retreat to their 
several apartments. Long before midnight, the 
whole family were invisible. 

Elizabeth and her friend had not yet lost their 
senses in sl6ep, when the howlings of the north- 
west wind were heard around the buildings, and 
brought with them that exquisite sense of comfort, 
that is ever excited under such circumstances, in 
an apartment where the fire has not yet ceased to 
glimmer ; and curtains, and shutters, and feathers, 
unite to preserve the desired temperature in the 
air. Once, just as her eyes had opened, apparently 
in the last stage of drowsiness, the roaring winds 
brought with them a long and plaintive howl, that 
seemed too wild for a dog, and yet strongly resem- 
bled the cries of that faithful animal, when night 
awakens his vigilance, and gives sweetness and so- 
lemnity to his alarms. The form of Louisa Grant 
instinctively pressed nearer to that of the young 
heiress, who, finding her companion was yet awake, 
said, in a low tone, as if afraid to break a charm 
with her voice — 

“ Those distant cries are plaintive, and even 
beautiful. Can they be the hounds from the hut 
of Leather-stocking ?” 

“ They are wolves, who have ventured from the 
mountain, on the lake,” whispered Louisa, “ and 
who are only kept from the village by the lights. 
One night, since we have been here, hunger drove 
them to our very doors. Oh ! what a dreadful 
night it was! But the riches of Judge Temple 
24 


278 


THE PIONEERS. 


have given him too many safeguaids, to leave roam 
for fear in this house.” 

“ The enterprise of Judge Temple is taming the 
very forests !” exclaimed Elizabeth, proudly, throw- 
ing off the covering, and partly rising in the bed. 
“ How rapidly is civilization treading on the foot- 
steps of nature !” she continued, as her eye glanced 
over, not only the comforts, but the luxuries of her 
apartment, and her ear again listened to the dis- 
tant, but often repeated howls from the lake. 
Finding, however, that the timidity oY her com- 
panion’ rendered the sounds painful to her, Eliza- 
beth resumed her place by her side, and soon for- 
got the changes in the country, w T ith those in her 
own condition, in a deep sleep. 

The following morning, the noise of the female 
servant, who entered the apartment to light their 
fire, awoke the young maidens who form such con- 
spicuous subjects in our tale. They arose, and 
finished the slight preparations of their toilets in 
a clear, cold atmosphere, that penetrated through 
all the defences of even Miss Temple’s warm room. 
When Elizabeth was attired, she approached a 
window and drew its curtain, and, throwing open 
its shutters, she endeavoured to look abroad on the 
village and the lake. But a thick covering of frost, 
on the panes of glass, while it admitted the light 
hid the view. She raised the sash, and then, in- 
deed, a most glorious scene met her delighted eye 

The lake had exchanged its covering of unspot- 
ted snow, for a face of dark ice, that reflected the 
rays of the rising sun, like a polished mirror. The 
houses were clothed in a dress of the same descrip- 
tion, but which, owing to its position, shone like 
bright steel ; while the enormous icicles, that were 
pendent from every roof, caught the brilliant light, 
apparently throwing it from one to the other, as 


THE PIONEERS. 


279 


each glittered, on the side next to the luminary, 
with a golden lustre, that melted away, on its op- 
posite into the dusky shades of a background. 
But it was the appearance of the boundless forests, 
that covered the hills, as they rose, in the distance, 
one over the other, that most attracted the gaze 
of Miss Temple. The huge branches of the pines 
and hemlocks, on the western mountains, bent 
with the weight of the ice they supported, while 
their summits rose above the swelling tops of the 
oaks, beeches, and maples, like spires of burnished 
silver issuing from domes of the same material. 
The limits of the view, in this direction, .were 
marked by an undulating outline of bright light, as 
if, reversing the order of nature, numberless suns 
might momentarily be expected to heave above the 
western horizon. In the foreground of the pi 
turej^ along the shores of the lake, and near to the 
village, each tree seemed studded with diamonds, 
that emitted their dancing rays, as the branches 
wmved gently under the impulse of the air. Even 
the sides of the mountains where the rays of the 
sun could not yet fall, were decorated with a glassy 
coat, that presented every gradation of brilliancy, 
from the first touch of the luminary to the dark 
foliage of the hemlock, glistening through its coat 
of crystal. In «hort, the whole view was one scene 
of quivering radiancy, as lake, mountains, village, 
and woods, each emitted a portion of light, tinged 
with its peculiar hue, and varied by its position and 
its magnitude. 

“ See !” cried Elizabeth — u see, Louisa ; hasten 
to the window, and observe the miraculous change.” 

Miss Grant complied ; and, after bending for a 
moment in silence from the opening, she observed, 
.n a low tone, as if afraid to trust the sound of her 
voice — 


280 


THE PIONEKRS 


w The change is indeed wonderful ! 1 am sur- 

prised that he should be able to effect it so soon.” 

Elizabeth turned in amazement, to hear such a 
skeptical sentiment from one educated like her 
companion ; but was surprised to find that, instead 
of looking at the view, the mild, blue eyes of Miss 
Grant were dwelling on the form of a well-dressed 
young man, who was standing before the door of 
the building, in earnest conversation with her fa- 
ther. A second look was necessary, before she 
was able to recognise the person of the young 
hunter, in a plain, but, assuredly, the ordinary garb 
of a gentleman. 

u Every thing in this magical country seems to 
bor der on the marvellous,” said Elizabeth ; “ and 
among all the changes, this is certainly not the least 
wonderful. I am not surprised, that your eye 
caught this transformation, without noticing, the 
changes in the view. The actors are as unique as 
the scenery.” 

Miss Grant coloured highly, and drew in her 
head, as she answered — 

“ I am a simple girl, Miss Temple, and I am 
afraid you will find me but a poor companion. 1 
— I am not sure that I understand all that you say. 
But I really thought that you wished me to notice 
the alteration in Mr. Edwards. Is it not more 
wonderful, when we recollect his origin ? They 
say he is part Indian.” 

“ He is certainly a genteel savage,” returned 
the smiling Elizabeth. u But let us go down, and 
give the Sachem his tea ; — for I suppose he is a 
descendant of King Philip, if not a grandson of 
Pocahontas.” 

The ladies were met in the hall by Judge Tem- 
ple, who took his daughter aside, to apprise hei of 


THE PIONEERS. 


281 


(hat alteration in the appearance of their new in- 
mate, with which she was already acquainted. 

u He appears reluctant to converse on his for- 
mei situation, 5 ’ continued Marmaduke ; u but 1 
gather from his discourse, as is apparent from his 
manner, that he has seen better days ; and I really 
am inclining to the opinion of Richard, as to his 
origin ; for it was no unusual thing for the Indian 
Agents to rear their children in a laudable manner, 
and” 

“ Very well, my dear sir,” interrupted his daugh- 
ter, laughing, and averting her eyes ; “ it is all well 
enough, I dare say ; but as I do not understand a 
word of the Mohawk language, he must be content 
to speak English ; and as for his behaviour, I trust 
(o your discernment to control it.” 

u Ay ! but, Bess,” said the Judge, detaining her 
gently with his hand, “ nothing must be said to him 
)f his past life. This he has begged particularly 
of me, as a favour. He is, perhaps, a little soured, 
pst now, with his wounded arm ; but the injury 
seems very light, and another time he may be more 
communicative.” 

“ Oh ! I am not much troubled, sir, with that 
laudable thirst after knowledge, that is called curi- 
osity. I shall believe him to be the child of Corn- 
stalk, or Corn-planter, or some other renowned 
chieftain ; possibly of the Big Snake himself ; and 
shall treat him as such, until he sees fit to shave 
his good-looking head, borrow some half-dozen 
pair of my best earrings, shoulder his rifle again, 
and disappear as suddenly as he made his entrance. 
So come, my dear sir, and let us not forget the rites 
of hospitality, for the short time he is to remain 
with us.” 

Judge Temple smiled at the graceful playfulness 
of his child, and taking her arm, they entered the 
24 * 


282 


THE PIONEERS. 


breakfast parlour, where the young hunter was 
seated, with an air that showed his determination 
to domesticate himself in the family, with as little 
parade as possible. 

Such were the incidents that led to this extra- 
ordinary increase in the family of Judge Temple, 
where, having once established the youth, the sub- 
ject of our tale requires us to leave him, for a time, 
to pursue with diligence and intelligence the em- 
ployments that were assigned him by Marmaduke. 

Major Hartmann made his customary visit, and 
took his leave of the party, for the next three 
months. Mr. Grant was compelled to be absent 
much of his time, in remote parts of the country, 
and his daughter became almost a constant visiter 
at the Mansion-house. Richard entered, with his 
constitutional eagerness, on the duties of his new 
office ; and, as Marmaduke was much employed, 
with the constant applications of adventurers for 
farms, the winter passed swiftly away. The lake 
was a principal scene for the amusements of the 
young people ; where the la’dies, in their one-horse 
cutter, driven by Richard, and attended, when the 
snow would admit of it, by young Edwards, on his 
skates, spent many hours, taking the benefit of ex- 
ercise in the clear air of the hills. The reserve of 
the youth gradually gave way to time and his situa- 
tion, though it was still evident, to a close observer, 
that he had frequent moments of bitter and intense 
feeling. 

Elizabeth saw many large openings appear in the 
sides of the mountains during the three succeeding 
months, where different settlers had, in the lan- 
guage of the country, “ made their pitch while 
the numberless sleighs that passed through the vil- 
lage, loaded with wheat and barrels of pot-ashes, 
afforded a cleai demonstration that all these labours 


THE PIONEERS. 


283 


were not undertaken in vain. In short, the whole 
country was exhibiting the bustle of a thriving set- 
tlement, where the highways were thronged with 
sleighs, bearing piles of rough household furnitur & ; 
studded, here and there, with the smiling faces of 
women and children, happy in the excitement of 
novelty ; or with loads of produce, hastening to' the 
^ common market at Albany, that served as so many 
snares, to induce the emigrants to enter into those 
wild mountains in search of competence and happi- 
ness. 

The village was alive with business ; the artisans 
increasing in wealth with the prosperity of the 
country, and each day witnessing some nearer ap- 
proach to the manners and usages of an old-settled 
town. The man who carried the mail, or u the 
post,” as he was called, talked much of running a 
stage, and^ once or twice during the winter, he was 
seen taking a single passenger, in his cutter, through 
the snow-banks, towards the Mohawk, along which 
a regular vehicle glided, semi-weekly, with the ve- 
locity of lightning, and under the direction of a 
knowing whip from the “ down countries.” To- 
wards spring, divers families, who had been into 
the “ old states,” to see their relatives, returned, 
in time to save the snow, frequently bringing with 
them whole neighbourhoods, who were tempted by 
their representations to leave the farms of Con- 
necticut and Massachusetts, and make a trial in the 
w*oods for fortune. 

During all this time, Oliver Edwards, whose 
sudden elevation excited no surprise in that change- 
ful country, w r as earnestly engaged in the service 
jf Marmaduke, during the days; but his nights 
w T ere often spent in the hut of Leather-stocking. 
The intercourse between the three hunters was 
maintained with a certain air of mystery, it is true, 


284 


THE PIONEERS. 


but with much zeal and apparent interest to all the 
parties. Even Mohegan seldom came to the Man- 
sion-house, and Natty, never ; but Edwards sought 
e^ery leisure moment to visit his former abode, 
from which he would often return in the gloomy 
hours of night, through the snow, or, if detained 
beyond the time at which the family retired to rest, 
with the morning sun. These visits certainly ex- - 
cited much speculation in those to whom they were 
known, but no comments were made, excepting 
occasionally, in whispers from Richard, who would 
say — 

“ I* is not at all remarkable ; — a half-breed can 
never Se weaned from the savage vvstfs, any more 
tha* hll-blooded Indian.” 


CHAPTER XX. 


“ Away ! nor let me loiter in my song, 

For we have many a mountain path to tread.” 

Byi-cm. 


As the spring gradually approached, the im- 
mense piles of snow, that by alternate thaws and 
Irosts, and repeated storms, had obtained a firm- 
ness that threatened a tiresome durability, began 
to yield to the influence of milder breezes and a 
warmer sun. The gates of Heaven at times seem- 
ed to open, and a bland air diffused itself over the 
earth, when animate and inanimate nature would 
awaken, and for a few hours, the gayety of spring 
shone in every eye, and smiled on every field. But 
the shivering blasts from the north would carry 
their chill influence over the scene again, and the 
dark and gloomy clouds that intercepted the rays 
of the sun were not more cold and dreary 'than 
the reaction which crossed the creation. These 
struggles between the seasons became, daily, more 
frequent, while the earth, like a victim to conten- 


286 


THE PIONEERS. 


tion, slowly lost the animated brilliancy of wintei 
without obtaining the decided aspect of spring. 

Several weeks were consumed in this cheerless 
manner, during which the inhabitants of the country 
gradually changed their pursuits from the social 
and bustling movements of the time of snow, to 
the laborious and domestic engagements of the 
coming season. The village was no longer throng- 
ed with visiters ; the trade, that had enlivened the 
shops for several months, began to disappear ; the 
highways lost their shining coats of beaten snow 
in impassable sloughs, and were deserted by the 
gay and noisy travellers who, in sleighs, had, dur- 
ing the winter, glided along their windings ; and, 
in short, every thing seemed indicative of a mighty 
change, not only in the earth itself, but in those 
also, who derived their sources of comfort and hap- 
piness from her bosom. 

The younger members of the family in the Man- 
sion-house, of which Louisa Grant was now habit- 
ually one, were by no means indifferent observers 
of these fluctuating and tardy changes. While the 
snow rendered the roads passable, they had par- 
taken largely in the amusements of the winter, 
which included not only daily rides over the moun- 
tains, and through every valley within twenty 
miles of them, but divers ingenious and varied 
sources of pleasure, on the bosom of their frozen 
lake. There had been rides in the equipage of 
Richard, when, with his four horses, he had out- 
stripped the winds with its speed, as it flew over 
the glassy ice which invariably succeeded a thaw. 
Then the exciting and dangerous u whirligig” would 
be suffered to possess its moment of notice. Cut- 
ters, drawn by a single horse, and hand-sleds, im- 
pelled by the gentlemen, on skates, would each ir. 
(heir turn be used; and, in short, every source of 


THE PIONEERS. 


287 


relief against the tediousness of a winter in the 
mountains was resorted to by the family. Eliza- 
beth was compelled to acknowledge to her father, 
that the season, with the aid of his library, was 
much less irksome than she had anticipated. 

As exercise in the open air was in some de- 
gree necessary to the habits of the family, when 
the constant recurrence of frosts and thaws ren- 
dered the roads, which were dangerous at the 
most favourable times, utterly impassable for wheels, 
saddle horses were used as substitutes for theii 
other conveyances. Mounted on small and sure 
footed beasts, the ladies would again attempt the 
passages of the mountains, and penetrate into every 
retired glen, where the enterprise of a settler had 
induced him to establish himself. In these excur- 
sions they were attended by some one or all of the 
gentlemen of the family, as their different pursuits 
admitted. Young Edwards was hourly becoming 
more familiarized to his situation, and not unfre- 
quently fftingled in their parties, with an uncon- 
cern and gayety, that for a short time, would, ap- 
parently, expel all unpleasant recollections from 
his mind. Habit, and the buoyancy of youth, seem- 
ed to be getting the ascendency over the secret 
causes of his uneasiness ; though there were mo- 
ments, when the same remarkable expression of 
disgust would cross his intercourse with Manna- 
duke, that had distinguished their conversations 
in the first days of their acquaintance. 

It was at the close of the month of March, that 
the Sheriff succeeded in persuading his cotisin and 
her young friend to accompany him in a ride to a 
hill that was said to overhang the lake in a manner 
peculiar to itself. 

u Besides, cousin Bess,” continued the indefati- 
gable Richard, “ we will stop and see the c sugai 


288 


THE PIONEERS. 


bush’ of Billy Kirby : he is on the east end of the 
Ransom lot, making sugar for Jared Ransom. 
There is not a better hand over a kettle in the 
county than that same Kirby. You remember, 
’duke, that I had him his first season, in our own 
camp ; and it is not a wonder that he knows some- 
thing of his trade.” 

“ He’s a good chopper, is Billy,” observed Ben- 
jamin, who held the bridle of the horse while the 
Sheriff mounted ; “ and he handles an axe much 
the same as a forecastle-man does his marling spike, 
or a tailor his goose. They say he’ll lift a potash 
kettle off the arch with his own hands, thof I can’t 
say that I’ve ever seen him do it with my own 
eyes ; but that is the say. And I’ve seen sugar 
of his making, which, maybe, was’nt as white as 
an old top-gallantsail, but which my friend Mis- 
tress Pretty-bones, within there, said had the true 
molasses smack to it ; and you are not the one, 
Squire Dickens, to be told that Mistress Remark- 
able has a remarkable tooth for sweet things in her 
nut grinder.” 

The loud laugh that succeeded the wit of Ben- 
jamin, and in which he participated, with no very 
harmonious sounds, himself, very fully illustrated 
the congenial temper which existed between the 
pair. Most of its point was, however, lost on the 
rest of the party, who were either mounting their 
horses, or assisting the ladies to do so, at the mo- 
ment. When all were safely in their saddles, the 
whole moved through the village in great order. 
They paused for a moment, before the door of 
Monsieur Le Quoi, until he could bestride his 
steed, and then issuing from the little cluster of 
houses, they took one of the principal of those 
highways that centred in the village. . 

As each night brought with it a severe frost. 


THE PIONEERS. 


2 SU 


which the heat of the succeeding day served to 
dissipate, the equestrians were compelled to pro- 
ceed singly along the margin of the road, where 
:he turf, and firmness of the ground, gave their 
horses a secure footing. Very trifling indications 
of approaching vegetation were to be seen, the 
surface of the earth presenting a cold, wet, and 
cheerless aspect that almost chilled the blood of 
the spectator. The snow yet lay scattered over 
most of those distant clearings that were visible in 
different parts of the mountains ; though here and 
there an opening might be seen, where, as the 
white covering yielded to the season, the bright 
and lively green of the wheat served to enkindle 
the hopes of the husbandman. Nothing could be 
more marked than the contrast between the earth 
and the heavens ; for, while the former presented 
the dreary view’ that we have described, a warm 
and invigorating sun was dispensing his heats from 
a sky that contained but a solitary cloud that lin- 
gered near the mountain, and through an atmo- 
sphere that softened the colours of the sensible hori- 
zon until it shone like a sea of virgin blue. 

Richard led the way, on this, as on all other oc- 
casions, that did not require the exercise of unu- 
sual abilities ; and as he moved along, he essayed 
to enliven th$ party with the sounds of his expe- 
rienced voice. 

“ This is your true sugar weather, ’duke,” he 
cried ; “ A frosty night and a sunshiny day. I 
warrant me that the sap runs like a mill-tail up the 
maples this warm morning. It is a pity, Judge, 
that you do not introduce a little more science into 
the manufactory of sugar among your tenants. It 
might be done, sir, without knowing as much as 
Doctor Franklin — it might be done, Judge Tem- 
ple.” 


25 


290 


THE PIONEERS. 


u The first object of my solicitude, friend Jones , 51 
returned Marmaduke, “ is to protect the sources 
of this great mine of comfort and wealth from the 
extravagance of the people themselves. When 
this important point shall be achieved, it will be 
in season to turn our attention to an improvement 
in the manufacture of the article. But thou know- 
est, Richard, that I have already subjected our su- 
gar to the process of the refiner, and that the re- 
sult has produced loaves as white as the snow on 
yon fields, and possessing the saccharine quality 
in its utmost purity . 55 

“ Saccharine, or turpentine, or any other ’ine, 
Judge Temple, you have never made a loaf larger 
than a good sized sugar-plum,” returned the She- 
riff. “ Now, sir,, I assert that no experiment is 
fairly tried, until it be reduced to practical pur- 
poses. If, sir, I owned a hundred, or, for that 
matter, two hundred thousand acres of land, as you 
do, I would build a sugar-house in the village ; I 
would invite learned men to an investigation of the 
subject, — and such are easily to be found, sir ; yes, 
sir, they are not difficult to find, — men who unite 
theory with practice ; and I would select a 
wood of young and thrifty trees ; and instead of 
making loaves of the size of a lump of candy, 
dam’me, ’duke, but I’d have them as big as a. hay- 
cock.” 

“ And purchase the cargo of one of those shipa 
that, they say, are going to Qhina,” cried Eliza 
beth ; u turn your potash-kettles into tea-cups, the 
scows on the lake into saucers : bake your cake in 
yonder lime-kiln, and invite the county to a tea- 
party. How wonderful are the projects of genius ! 
Really, sir, the world is of opinion that Judge 
Temple has tried the experiment fairly, though he 
did not cause his loaves to be cast in moulds of the 


THE PIONEERS. 


2<)l 

magnitude that would suit your magnificent con- 
ceptions.” 

“You may laugh, cousin Elizabeth — you may 
laugh, madam,” retorted Richard, turning himself 
so much in his saddle as to face the party, and 
making extremely dignified gestures with his whip ; 
u but I appeal to common sense, good sense, or, 
what is of more importance than either, to the sense 
of taste, which is one of the five natural senses, 
w T hether a big loaf of sugar is not likely to contain 
a better illustration' of a proposition than such a 
lump as one of your Dutch women puts under her 
tongue when she drinks her tea. There are two 
ways of doing every thing ; the right way, and the 
wrong way. You make sugar now, I will admit, 
and you may, possibly, make loaf-sugar ; but I 
take the question to be, whether you make the 
best possible sugar, and into the best possible 
loaves.” 

“ Thou art very right, Richard,” observed Mai- 
maduke, with a gravity in his air, that proved how 
much he was interested in the subject. “ It is ve- 
ry true that we manufacture sugar, but the inquiry 
is quite useful to make, how much ? and in what 
manner? I hope to live to see the day, when 
farms and plantations shall be devoted to this 
branch of business. Little is known concerning 
the properties of the tree itself, the source of all 
this wealth ; how much it may be improved by 
cultivation, by the use of the hoe and plough.” 

w Hoe and plough,” roared the Sheriff ; — “ would 
you set a man hoeing round the root of a maple 
like this,” — pointing to one of those noble trees, 
hat occur so frequently in that part of the coun- 
try. — “ Hoeing trees ! are you mad, ’duke ? This 
is next to hunting for coal ! Poh ! poh ! my dea? 
cousin, hear reason, and leave the management of 


THE PIONEERS. 


' Z \)2 


the sugar-bush to me. Here is Mr. Le Quoi, hv 
has been in the West Indies, and seen sugar made 
often. Let him give an account of how it is made 
there, and you will hear the philosophy of the 
thing. — Well, Monsieur, how is it that you make 
sugar in the West Indies ; any thing in Judge 
Temple’s fashion ?” 

The gentleman to whom this query was put was 
mounted on a small horse, of no very fiery tem- 
perament, and was riding with his stirrups so short, 
as* to bring his knees, while the animal rose a small 
ascent in the wood-path they were now travelling, 
into a somewhat hazardous vicinity to his chin. 
There was no room for gesticulation or grace in 
the delivery of his reply, for the mountain was 
steep and slippery ; and although the Gaul had an 
eye of uncommon magnitude on either side of hie 
face, they did not seem to be half competent to 
forewarn him of the impediments of bushes, twigs, 
and fallen trees, that were momentarily crossing 
his path. With one hand employed in averting 
these dangers, and the other grasping his bridle, to 
check an untoward speed that his horse was as- 
suming, the native of France responded as fol- 
lows — 

“ Sucre ! dey do make eet in Martinique : mais 
— mais eet is not from von tree ; eet is from — ah 
— ah — vat you call — Je voudrois que ces cheminp 
fussent au diable — vat you call — von steeck pour 
le promenade.” 

“ Cane,” said Elizabeth, smiling at the impreca- 
tion which the wary Frenchman supposed was un- 
derstood only by himself. 

u Oui, Mam’selle, cane.” 

11 Yes, yes,” cried Richard, c< cane is the vulgai 
name for it, but the real term is saccharum offici- 
narum ; and what we call the sugar, or hard ma- 


THE PIONEERS. 


293 


pie, is acer saccharinum. These are the learned 
names, Monsieur, and are such as, doubtless, you 
well understand.” 

u Is this Greek or Latin, Mr. Edwards ?” whis- 
pered the heiress to the youth, who was opening 
u passage for herself and her companions through 
the bushes — u or perhaps it is a still more learned 
language, for an interpretation of which we must 
look to you.” 

The dark eye of the young man glanced towards 
the maiden, with a keenness bordering on feroci- 
ty ; but its expression changed, in a moment, to 
the smiling playfulness of her own face, as he an- 
swered— 

“ I shall remember your doubts, Miss Temple, 
when next I visit my old friend Mohegan, and ei- 
ther his skill, or that of Leather-stocking, shall 
solve them.” 

a And are you, then, really ignorant of their 
language ?” asked Elizabeth, with an impetuosity 
that spoke a lively interest in the reply. 

“ Not absolutely ; but the deep learning of Mr. 
Jones is more familiar to me, or even the polite 
masquerade of Monsieur Le Quoi.” 

“ Do you speak French ?” said the lady, with a 
quickness that equalled her former interest. 

“ It is a common language with the Iroquois, and 
through the Canadas.” he answered, with an equi- 
vocal smile. 

“ Ah ! but they are Mingoes, and your enemies.” 

“ It will he well for me, if I have no worse,” 
said the youth, dashing ahead with his horse, and 
thus putting an end to the evasive dialogue. 

The discourse, however, was maintained with 
great vigour by Richard, until they reached an 
open wood on the summit of the mountain, where 
the hemlocks and pin^ totally disappeared, and a 
25 * 


294 


THE PIONEERS. 


grove of the very trees that formed the subject ot 
debate covered the earth with their tall, straight 
trunks and spreading branches, in stately pride. 
The underwood had been entirely removed from 
this grove, or bush, as in conjunction with the sim- 
ple arrangements for boiling, it was called, and a 
wide space of many acres was cleared, which 
might be likened to the dome of a mighty temple, 
to which the maples with their stems formed the 
columns, their tops composing the capitals, and the 
heavens the arch. A deep and careless incision 
had been made into each tree, near its root, into 
which little spouts, formed of the bark of the alder, 
or of the sumach, were fastened ; and a trough, 
roughly dug out of the linden, or basswood, was 
lying at the root of each tree, to catch the sap that 
flowed from this extremely wasteful and inartificial 
arrangement. 

The party paused a moment, on gaining the flat, 
to breathe their horses, and, as the scene was en- 
tirely new to several of their number, to view the 
manner of collecting the fluid. A fine powerful 
voice aroused them from their momentary silence, 
as it rung under the branches of the trees, singing 
the following words of that inimitable doggrel, 
whose verses, if extended, would reach from the 
waters of the Connecticut to the shores of Ontario. 
The tune was, of course, that familiar air, which, 
although it is said to have been first applied to his 
nation in derision, circumstances have since ren- 
dered so glorious, that no American ever hears its 
jingling cadence without feeling a thrill at his 
heart. 


‘ The Eastern States bo full of men, 
The Western full of woods, Sir, 
The hills be like a cattle pen, 

The roads be full of goods, sir 1 


THE PIONEERS. 


295 


Then flow away, my sweety sap, 
And I will make you boily ; 

Nor catch a woodman’s hasty nap, 
For fear you should get roily. 

‘ The maple tree’s a precious one, 

’Tis fuel, food, and timber ; 

And when your stiff day’s work is done, 
Its juice will make you limber. 

Then flow away, &c. 

“ And what’s a man without his glass, 
His wife without her tea,* sir f 
But neither cup nor mug will pass, 
Without this honey-bee, sir I 
Then flow away,” &c. 


During the execution of this sonorous ditty, 
Richard kept time with his whip on the mane of 
his charger, accompanying the gestures with a cor- 
responding movement of his head and body. To- 
wards the close of the song, he was overheard 
humming the chorus, and at its last repetition, to 
strike in at u sweety sap,” and carry a second 
through, with a prodigious addition to the “ effect” 
of the noise, if not to that of the harmony. 

“Well done us!” roared the Sheriff, on the 
same key with the tune ; “ a very good song, Billy 
Kirby, and very well sung. Where got you the 
words, lad ? is there more of it, and can you fur- 
nish me with a copy ?” 

The sugar-boiler, who was busy in his u camp,” 
at a short distance from the equestrians, turned his 
head with great indifference, and surveyed the 
party, as they approached, with admirable coolness. 
To each individual, as he or she rode close by him, 
he gave a nod that was extremely good-natured 
and affable, but which partook largely of the vir- 
tue of equality, for not even to the ladies did'hein 
the least vary his mode of salutation, by touching 


296 


THE PIONEERS. 


the apology for a hat that he wore, or by any other 
motion than the one we have mentioned. 

u How goes it, how goes it, Sheriff?” said the 
wood-chopper ; “ what’s the good word to-day ?” 

“ Why, much as usual, Billy,” returned Ri- 
chard. “ But how is this ! where are your four 
kettles, and your troughs, and your iron coolers ? 
Do you make sugar in this slovenly way ! I thought 
you were one of the best sugar-boilers in the 
county.” 

“ Pm all that, Squire Jones,” said Kirby, who 
continued his occupation ; “ I’ll turn my back to 
no man in the Otsego hills, for chopping and log- 
ging ; for boiling down the maple sap ; for tending 
brick-kiln ; splitting out rails ; making potash, and 
parling too ; or hoeing corn. Though I keep my- 
self, pretty much, to the first business, seeing that 
the axe comes most nateral to me.” 

“ You be von Jack All-trade, Mister Beel,” said 
Monsieur Le Quoi. 

u How ?” said Kirby, looking up, with a simpli- 
city which, coupled with his gigantic frame and 
manly face, was a little ridiculous — if you be for 
trade, Mounsher, here is some as good sugar as 
„you’ll find the season through. It’s as clear from 
dirt as the Garman Flats is from stumps, and it has 
the raal maple flavour. Such stuff* would sell in 
York for candy.” 

The Frenchman approached the place where 
Kirby had deposited his cakes of sugar, under the 
cover of a bark roof, and commenced the examina- 
tion of the article, with the eye of one who well un- 
derstood its value. Marmaduke had dismounted, and 
was viewing the works and the trees very closely, 
and not without frequent expressions of dissatis- 
faction at the careless manner in which the manu- 
facture was conducted. 


THE PIONEERS. 


297 


u You have much experience in these things, 

rby,” he said ; “ what is the course you pursue 
in making your sugar? I see that you have but 
two kettles.” 

“ Two is as good as two thousand, Judge; I’m 
none of your polite sugar-makers, that boils for the 
great folks ; but if the raal sweet maple is wanted, 
l can answer your turn. First, I choose, and then 
I tap my trees ; say along about the last of Febru- 
ary, or in these mountains, maybe not afore the 
middle of March ; but any way, just as the sap be- 
gins to cleverly run — ” 

“ Well, in this choice,” interrupted Marmaduke, 

“ are you governed by any outward signs, that 
prove the quality of the tree ?” 

“ Why, there’s judgment in all things,” said 
Kirby, stirring the liquor in his kettles briskly. 
u There’s something in knowing when and how 
much to stir the pot. It’s a thing that must be 
larnt. Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor, for that 
matter, Templetown ’ither, though it may be said 
to be a quick-growing place. I never put ray axe 
into a stunty tree, or one that hasn’t a good, fresh- 
looking bark; for trees have disorders just like 
creaters : and where’s the policy of taking a tree 
that’s sickly, any more than you’d choose a foun- 
dered horse to ride post, or an overheated ox to 
'o vour logging — ” 

u All this is true : But what are your signs of * 
illness ? how do you distinguish a tree that is well 
from one that is diseased ?” 

“ How does the doctor tell who has fever, and 
who colds ?” interrupted Richard — u by examining 
the skin, and feeling the pulse, to be sure.” 

“ Sartain,” continued Billy, u the Squire an’! 
far out of the way. It’s by the look of the thing, 
sure enough. — Well, when the sap begins to got a 


298 


THE PIONEERS. 


free run, I hang over the kettles, and set up the 
bush. My first boiling I push pretty smart, till 1 
get the vartoo of the sap ; but when it begins to 
grow of a molasses nater, like this in the kettle, 
one musn’t drive the fires too hard, or you’ll burn 
the sugar: and burny sugar is always bad to the 
taste, let it be never so sweet. So you ladle out 
from one kettle into the other, till it gets so, when 
you put the stirring stick into it, that it will draw 
into a thread : when it takes a kerful hand to ma 
nage it. There is a way to drain it off, after it 
has grained, by putting clay into the pans : but it 
is’nt always practysed : some doos, and some 
doosn’t. — Well, Mounsher, be we likely to make 
a trade ?” 

u I vill give you, Mister Beel, for von pound — 
dix sous.” 

“ No, I expect cash for’t : I never dicker away 
my sugar. But, seeing that it’s you, Mounsher,” 
said Billy, with a coaxing smile, “ I’ll agree to take 
a gallon of rum, and cloth enough for two shirts, if 
you will take the molasses in the bargain. It’s ra^l 
good. I wouldn’t deceive you or any man : and 
to my drinking it’s about the best molasses I ever 
seed come out of a sugar-bush.” 

“ Mr. Le Quoi has offered you ten pence,” said 
young Edwards. 

The manufacturer starechat the speaker, with an 
*ir of great freedom, but made no reply. 

“ Oui,” said the Frenchman, “ten penny. Je 
yous remercie, Monsieur : ah ! mon Anglois ! je 
i’oublie toujours.” 

The wood-chopper looked from one to the other, 
with some displeasure : and evidently imbibed the 
opinion that they were amusing themselves at his 
expense. He seized the enormous ladle, which 
was lying in one of his kettles, and began to stir 


THE PIONEERS. 


299 


the boiling liquid with great diligence. After a 
moment passed in dipping the ladle full, and then 
raising it on high, as the thick rich fluid fell back 
into the kettle, he suddenly gave it a whirl, as if to 
cool what yet remained, and offered the bowl to 
Mr. Le Quoi, saying — 

“ Taste that, Mounsher, and I guess you will 
say it is worth more than you offer. The molasses 
itself would fetch twice the money.” 

The complaisant Frenchman, after several timid 
efforts to trust his lips in contact with the bowl of 
the ladle, got a good swallow of the scalding liquid. 
He clapped his hand on his breast, and looked 
most piteously at the ladies, for a single instant, 
and then, to use the language of Billy, when he 
afterwards recounted the tale, “ no drumsticks ever 
went faster on the skin of a sheep, than the French- 
man’s legs, for a round or two : and then, such 
swearing and spitting, in French, you never seen. 
But it’s a knowing one, from the old countries, that 
thinks to get his jokes smoothly over a Yankee 
wood-chopper.” 

The air of innocence with which Kirby resumed 
the occupation of stirring the contents of his kettle, 
would have completely deceived the spectators, as 
to his agency in the temporary suffering of Mr. Le 
Quoi, had not the reckless fellow thrust his tongue 
into his cheek, and cast his eyes over the party, 
with a simplicity of expression that was too ex- 
quisite to be true to nature. Mr. Le Quoi soon 
recovered his presence of mind, and his decorum ; 
he briefly apologized to the ladies for one or two 
very intemperate expressions, that had escaped him 
in a moment of extraordinary excitement, and re- 
mounting his horse, he continued in the back- 
ground during the remainder of their visit, the wit 
of Kirby putting a violent termination, at once, to 


300 


THE PIONEERS. 


all negotiations on the subject of trade. During 
all this time, Marmaduke had been wandering 
about the grove, making his observations on his 
favourite trees, and the wasteful manner in which 
the wood-chopper conducted his manufacture. 

“ It grieves me to witness the extravagance that 
pervades this country,” said the Judge, “ where 
the settlers trifle with the blessings they might en 
joy, with the prodigality of successful adventurers. 
You are not exempt from the censure yourself, 
Kirby, for you make dreadful wounds in these 
trees, where a small incision would effect the same 
object. I earnestly beg you will remember, that 
they are the growth of centuries' and when once 
gone, none living will see their loss remedied.” 

u Why, I don’t know, Judge,” returned the man 
he addressed : “ It seems to me, if there’s a plenty 
of any thing in this mountaynious country, it’s the 
trees. If there’s any sin in chopping them, I’ve a 
pretty heavy account to settle ; for I’ve chopped 
over the best half of a thousand acres, with my 
own hands, counting both Varmount and York 
states ; and I hope to live to finish the whull, be- 
fore I lay up my axe. Chopping comes quite na- 
teral to me, and I wish no other empl’yment; but 
Jared Ransom said that he thought the sugar was 
likely to be scurce this season, seeing that so ma- 
ny folks was coming into the settlement, and so I 
concluded to take the c bush’ on sheares, for this 
one spring. What’s the best news, Judge, con- 
sarning ashes ? do pots hold so that a man can live 
by them still ? I s’pose that they will if they keep 
on fighting.” 

a Thou reasonest with judgment, William,” re- 
turned Marmaduke. u So long as the old world 
is to be convulsed with wars, so long will the har- 
vest in America continue.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


391 

‘ c Well, it’s an ill wind, Judge, that blows no- 
body any good. I’m sure the country is in a thriv- 
ing way ; and, though I know you calkilate greatly 
on the trees, setting as much store by them as 
some men would by their children, yet, to my 
eyes they are a sore sight at any time, unless I’m 
privileged to work my will on them ; in which 
case, I can’t say but they are more to my liking. 
I have heern the settlers from the old countries 
say, that their rich men keep great oaks and elms, 
that would make a barrel of pots to the tree, stand- 
ing round their doors and humsteads, and scattered 
over their farms, just to look on. Now, I call no 
country much improved, that is pretty well cover- 
ed with trees. Stumps are a different thing, for 
they don’t shade the land ; and besides, if you dig 
them, they make a fence that will turn any thing 
bigger than a hog, being grand for breachy cattle.” 

“ Our notions on such subjects vary much, in 
different countries,” said Marmaduke ; u but it is 
not as ornaments that I value the noble trees of 
this country ; it is for their usefulness. We are 
stripping the forests, as if a single year would re- 
place what we destroy. But the hour approaches, 
when the laws will take notice of not only the 
woods but the game they contain also.” 

With this consoling reflection, Marmaduke re- 
mounted, and the equestrians passed the sugai- 
eamp, on their way to the promised landscape of 
Richard. The wood-chopper was left alone, in 
the bosom of the forest, to pursue his labours. Eli- 
zabeth turned her head, when they reached the 
point where they were to descend the mountain, 
and thought that the slow fires, that were glimmering 
under his enormous kettles, his little brush shelter, 
covered with pieces of hemlock bark, his gigantic 
size, as he wielded his ladle with a steady and 
26 


302 


THE PIOWEEKS. 


knowing air, aided by the back-ground ol stately 
trees, with their spouts and troughs, formed, alto- 
gether, no unreal picture of human life in its first 
stages of civilization. Perhaps whatever the scene 
possessed of a romantic character was not injured 
by the powerful tones of Kirby’s voice, ringing 
through the woods, as he again awoke his strains 
to another tune, which was but little more scien- 
tific than the former. All that she understood of 
the words, were — 


“ And when the proud forest is falling, 

To my oxen cheerfully calling, 

From morn until night I am bawling, 

Woe, back there, and hoy and gee ; 

Till our labour is mutually ended, 

By my strength and cattle befriended, 

And against the musquitoes defended, 

By the bark of the walnut-tree. — 

“ Away ! then, you lads who would buy land. 
Choose the oak that grows on the high land 
Of the silvery pine on the dry land, 

It matters but little to me.” 


CHAPTER XXI. 


a Speed I Malise, speed ! such cause of haste 
Thine active sinews never brac’d.” 

Scott 


The roads of Otsego, if we except the principal 
highways, were, at the early day of our tale, but 
little better than wood-paths of unusual width. 
The high trees that were growing on the very 
verge of the wheel-tracks excluded the sun’s rays, 
unless at meridian, and the slowness of the evapo- 
ration, united with the rich mould of vegetable de- 
composition, that covered the whole country, to the 
depth of several inches, occasioned but an indiffer- 
ent foundation for the footing of travellers. Added 
to these, there were the inequalities of a natural 
surface, and the constant recurrence of enormous 
and slippery roots, that were laid bare by the re- 
moval of the light soil, together with stumps of 
trees, to make a passage not only difficult but dan- 
gerous. Yet the riders, among these numerous 
obstructions, which were such as would terrify an 
unpractised eye, gave no demonstrations of unea- 
siness, as their horses toiled through the sloughs, 
or trotted with uncertain paces along their dark 
route. In many places, the marks on the trees 
were the only indications of a road, with, perhaps, 
an occasional remnant of pine, that, by being cut 


304 


THE PIONEERS. 


close to the earth, so as leave nothing visible but 
its base of roots, spreading for twenty feet in every 
direction, was apparently placed there as a beacon, 
to warn the traveller that it was the centre of the 
highway. 

Into one of these roads the active Sheriff led the 
way, first striking out of the footpath, by which 
they had descended from the sugar-bush, across 
a little bridge, formed of round logs laid loosely on 
sleepers of pine, in which large openings were fre- 
quent, and in one instance, of a formidable width. 
The nag of Richard, when it reached this barrier, 
laid its nose along the logs, and stepped across the 
difficult passage with the sagacity of a man ; but 
the blooded filly which Miss Temple rode disdain- 
ed so humble a movement. She made a step or 
two with an unusual caution, and then on reaching 
the broadest opening, obedient to the curb and 
whip of her fearless mistress, she bounded across 
the dangerous pass with the activity of a squirrel. 

“ Gently, gently, my child,” said Marmaduke, 
who was following in the manner of Richard — 
tc this is not a country for equestrian feats. Much 
prudence is requisite to journey through our rough 
paths with safety. Thou mayst practise thy skill 
in horsemanship on the plains of New-Jersey with 
safety, but in the hills of Otsego they must be sus- 
pended for a time.” 

“ I may as well, then, relinquish my saddle at 
once, de£U’ sir,” returned his daughter; “ for if it is 
to be laid aside until this wild country be improved, 
old age will overtake me, and put an end to what 
you term my equestrian feats.” 

“ Say not so, my child,” returned her father ; 
“ but if thou venturest again, as in crossing this 
bridge, old age will never overtake thee, but I 
shall be left to mourn thee, cut off in thy pride. 


THE PIONEERS. 


305 


my Elizabeth. If thou hadst seen this district of 
country, as I did, when it lay in the sleep of na- 
ture, and witnessed its rapid changes, as it awoke 
to supply the wants of man, thou would st curb thy 
impatience for a little time, though thou shouldst 
not check thy steed.” 

“ I have a remembrance of hearing you speak, 
sir, of your first visit to these woods, but the recol- 
lection of it is faint, and blended with the confused 
images of childhood. Wild and unsettled as it may 
yet seem, it must have been a thousand times 
more dreary then. Will you repeat, dear sir, 
what you then thought of your enterprise, and 
what you felt ?” 

During this speech of Elizabeth, which was ut- 
tered with the interested fervour! of affection, 
young Edwards rode more closely to the side of 
the Judge, and bent his dark eyes on his counte- 
nance with an expression that seemed to read his 
thoughts. 

“ Thou wast then young, my child, but must re- 
member when I left thee and thy mother, to take 
my first survey of these uninhabited mountains,” 
said Marmaduke. “ But thou dost not feel all the 
secret motives that can urge a man to endure pri- 
vations in order to accumulate wealth. In my 
case they have not been trifling, and God has been 
pleased to smile on my efforts. If I have encoun- 
tered pain, famine, and disease, in accomplishing 
the settlement of this rough territory, I have not 
the misery of failure to add to the grievances.” 

“ Famine !” echoed Elizabeth ; “ I thought this 
was the land of abundance ! had you famine to 
contend with ?” 

“ Even so, my child,” said her father. “ Those 
who look around them now, and see the loads of 
produce that issue out of every wild path in these 

v 26 * 


306 


THE PIONEERS. 


mountains, during the season of travelling, will 
hardly credit that no more than five years have 
elapsed, since the tenants of these w r oods were 
compelled to eat the scanty fruits of the forest to 
sustain life, and, with their unpractised skill, to 
hunt the beasts as food for their starving families.” 

“ Ay !” cried Richard, who happened to over- 
heal the last of this speech, between the notes of 
the wood-chopper’s song, which he was endeavour- 
ing to breathe aloud ; “ that was the starving- time, 
cousin Bess. I grew as lank as a weasel that fall, 
and my face was as pale as one of your fe ver-and- 
ague visages. Monsieur Le Quoi, there, fell away 
like a pumpkin in drying ; nor do I think you have 
got fairly over it yet, Monsieur. Benjamin, I 
thought, bor£ it with a worse grace than any of 
the family, for he swore it was harder to endure 
than a short allowance in the calm latitudes. Ben- 
jamin is a sad fellow to swear, if you starve him 
ever so little. I had half a mind to quit you then, 
’duke, and go into Pennsylvania to fatten ; but, 
damn it, thinks I, we are sisters’ children, and I 
will live or die with him, after all.” 

“ I do not forget thy kindness,” said Marma- 
duke, “ nor that we are of one blood.” 

“ But, my dear father,” cried the wondering 
Elizabeth, “ was there actual suffering ? where 
were the beautiful and fertile vales of the Mo- 
hawk ? could they not furnish food for your 
wants ?” 

“ It was a season of scarcity ; the necessities of 
life commanded a high price in Europe, and were 
greedily sought after by the speculators. The 
emigrants, from the east to the west, invariably 
passed along the valley of the Mohawk, and swept 
away the means of subsistence, like a swarm of 
locusts. Nor were the people on the Flats in a 


THE PIONEERS 


307 


much better condition. They were in want them* 
selves, but they spared the little excess of provi- 
sions, that nature did not absolutely require, with 
the justice of the German character. There was 
no grinding of the poor. The word speculator was 
then unknown to them. I have seen many a stoul 
man, bending under the load of the bag of meal, 
which he was carrying from the mills of the Mo- 
hawk, through the rugged passes of these moun- 
tains, to feed his half-famished children, with a 
heart so light, as he approached his hut, that the 
thirty miles he had passed seemed nothing. Re- 
member, my child, it was in our very infancy ; we 
had neither mills, nor grain, nor roads, nor often 
clearings ; — we had nothing of increase, but the 
mouths that were to be fed ; for, even at that in- 
auspicious moment, the restless spirit of emigra- 
tion was not idle ; nay, the general scarcity, which 
extended to the east, tended to increase the num- 
ber of adventurers.” 

u And how, dearest father, didst thou encounter 
this dreadful evil ?” said Elizabeth, unconsciously 
adopting the dialect of her parent in the warmth 
of her sympathy. u Upon thee must have fallen 
all the responsibility, if not the suffering.” 

“ It did, Elizabeth,” returned the Judge, pausing 
for a single moment, as if musing on his former 
feelings. .“ I had hundreds, at that dreadful time, 
daily looking up to me for bread. The sufferings 
of their families, and the gloomy prospect before 
them, had paralysed the enterprise and efforts of 
my settlers ; hunger drove them to the woods for 
food, but despair sent them, at night, enfeebled and 
wan, to a sleepless pillow T . It was not a moment 
for inaction. I purchased cargoes of wheat from 
the granaries of Pennsylvania ; they were landed 
at Albany, and brought up the Mohawk in boats • 


308 


THE PIONEERS. 


from thence it was transported on pack-horses into 
the wilderness, and distributed among my people. 
Seines were made, and the lakes and rivers wer 
dragged foi fish. Something like a miracle was 
wrought in our favour, for enormous shoals of her- 
ring were discovered to have wandered five hun- 
dred miles, through the windings of the impetuous 
Susquehanna, and the lake was alive with their 
numbers. These were at length caught, and dealt 
out to the people, with proper portions of salt*, 
and from that moment we again began to pros- 
per.” 

“ Yes,” cried Richard, “ and I was the man who 
served out both the fish and the salt. When the 
poor devils came to receive their rations, Benja- 
min, who was my deputy, was obliged to keep 
them off by stretching ropes around me, for they 
smelt so of garlic, from eating nothing but the wild 
onion, that the fumes put me out, often, in my 
measurement. You were a child then, Bess, and 
knew nothing of the matter, for great care was ob- 
served to keep both you and your mother from 
suffering. That year put me back, dreadfully, both 
in the breed of my hogs, and of my turkeys.” 

“ No, Bess,” cried the Judge, in a more cheer- 
ful tone, utterly disregarding the interruption of his 
cousin, “ he who hears of the settlement of a coun- 
try knows but little of the actual toil and suffer- 
ing by which it is accomplished. Unimproved 
and wild as this district now seems to your eyes, 
what was it when I first entered the hills ! I left 
my party, the morning of my arrival, back near 
the farms of the Cherry Valley, and, following a 
deer-path, rode to the summit of the mountain, that 
I have since called Mount Vision ; for the sight 
that there met my eyes seemed to me as the de- 
ceptions of a dream. . The fire had run over the 


THE PIONEERS. 30‘J 

pinnacle, and, in a great measure, laid open the 
view. The leaves were fallen, and I mounted a 
tree, and sat for an hour looking on the silent wil- 
derness. Not an opening was to be seen in the 
boundless forest, except where the lake lay, like a 
mirror of glass. The water was covered by myri- 
ads of the wild-fowl that migrate with the changes 
in the season ; and, while in my situation on the 
branch of the beech, I saw a bear, with hei cubs, 
descend to the shore to drink. 1 had met many 
deer, gliding through the woods, in my journey ; 
but not the vestige of a man could I trace, during 
my progress, nor from my elevated observatory. 
No clearing, no hut, none of the winding roads that 
are now to be seen, were there, nothing but moun- 
tains rising behind mountains, and the valley, with 
its surface of branches, enlivened here and there 
with the faded foliage of some tree, that parted 
from its leaves with more than ordinary reluctance. 
Even the little Susquehanna was then hid, by the 
height and density of the forest.” 

u And were you there alone ?” asked Eliza- 
beth ; “ passed you the night in that solitary state ?” 

“ Not so, my child,” returned her father. “ Af- 
ter musing on the scene for an hour, with a min- 
gled feeling of pleasure and desolation, I left my 
perch and descended the mountain. My horse 
was left to browse on the twigs that grew within 
his reach, while I explored the shores of the lake, 
and the spot where Templeton stands. A pine of 
more than ordinary growth stood where my dwell- 
ing is now placed ! a wind-row had been opened 
through the trees from thence to the lake, and my 
view was but little impeded. Under the branches 
of that tree I made my solitary dinner ; I had just 
Finished my repast as I saw a smoke curling from 


THE PIONEERS. 


T10 

under the mountain, near the eastern bank of the 
lake. It was the only indication of the vicinity of 
man that I had then seen. After much toil I made 
my way to the spot, and found a rough cabin of 
logs, built against the foot of a rock, and bearing 
the marks of a tenant, though I found no one with- 
in it — ” 

“ It was the hut of Leather-stocking,” said Ed- 
wards, quickly. 

“ It was ; though I, at first, supposed it to be a 
habitation of the Indians. But while I was linger- 
ing around the spot, Natty made his appearance, 
staggering under the load of the carcass of a buck 
that he had slain. Our acquaintance commenced 
at that time ; before, I had never heard that such 
a being tenanted the woods. He launched his 
bark canoe, and set me across the foot of the lake, 
to the place where I had fastened my horse, and 
pointed out a spot where he might get a scanty 
browsing until the morning ; when I returned and 
passed the night in the cabin of the hunter.” 

Miss Temple was so much struck by the deep 
attention of young Edwards, during this speech, 
that she forgot to resume her interrogatories ; but 
the youth himself continued the discourse, by ask- 
ing, with a smile lurking around his features — 

“ And how did the Leather-stocking discharge 
the duties of a host, sir ?” 

“ Why, simply but kindly, until late in the even- 
ing, when he discovered my name and object, and 
the cordiality of his manner very sensibly dimi- 
nished, or, I might better say, disappeared. He 
considered the introduction of the settlers as an 
innovation on his rights, I believe ; for he express- 
ed much dissatisfaction at the measure, though it 
was in his confused and ambiguous manner. 1 


THE PIONEERS. 


31 J 

hardly undei stood his objections myself, but sup- 
pose they referred chiefly to an interruption of the 
hunting.” 

“ Had you then purchased the estate, or were 
you examining it with an intent to buy ?” asked 
Edwards, a little abruptly. 

“ It had been mine for several years. It was 
with a view to people the land that I visited the 
lake. Natty treated me hospitably, but coldly, I 
thought, after he learnt the nature of my journey. 
I slept on his own bear-skin, however, and in the 
morning joined my surveyors again.” 

u Said he nothing of the Indian rights, sir ?” 
continued Edwards. u The Leather-stocking is 
much given to impeach the justice of the tenure by 
vdiich the whites hold the country.” 

u I remember that he spoke of them, but I did 
not clearly comprehend him, and may have for- 
gotten what he then said ; for the Indian title was 
extinguished so far back as the close of the old 
war ; and if it had not been at all, I hold under the 
patents of the Royal Governors, confirmed by air 
act of our own State Legislature, and no court in 
our country can affect my title.” 

u Doubtless, sir, your title is both legal and 
equitable,” returned the youth, coldly, reigning his 
horse back, and remaining silent till the subject 
was changed. 

It was seldom that Mr. Jones suffered any con- 
versation to continue, for a great length of time, 
without his participation. It seems that he was of 
the party that Judge Temple had designated as his 
surveyors ; and he embraced the opportunity of 
the pause that succeeded the retreat of young Ed- 
wards, to take up the discourse, and with it a nar- 
ration of their further proceedings, after his own 
manner As it waited, however, the interest that 


312 


THE PIONEERS. 


had accompanied the description of the Judge, we 
must decline the task of committing his sentences 
to paper. 

They soon reached the point where the pro- 
mised view was to be seen. It was one of those 
picturesque and peculiar scenes that belong to the. 
Otsego, but which required the absence of the ice, 
and the softness of a summer’s landscape, to be en- 
joyed in all its beauty. Marmaduke had early fore- 
warned his daughter of the season and of its effect 
on the prospect, and after casting a cursory glance 
at its capabilities, the party returned homeward, 
perfectly satisfied that its beauties would repay 
them for the toil of a second ride, at a more propi- 
tious season. 

“ The spring is the gloomy time of the Ameri- 
can year,” said the Judge ; “ and it is more pecu- 
liarly the case in these mountains. The winter 
seems to retreat to the fastnesses of the hills, as 
to the citadel of its dominion, and is only expel- 
led, after a tedious siege, in which either party, 

times, would seem to be gaining the victory.” 

“ A very just and apposite figure, Judge Tem- 
ple,” observed the Sheriff ; u and the garrison un- 
der the command of Jack Frost made formidable 
sorties — you understand what I mean by sorties, 
Monsieur ; sallies, in English — and sometimes 
drive General Spring and his troops back again 
into the low countries.” 

“ Yes, sair,” returned the Frenchman, whose pro- 
minent eyes were watching the precarious foot- 
steps of the beast he rode, as it picked its dan- 
gerous way among the roots of trees, holes, log- 
bridges, and sloughs that formed the aggregate of 
the highway. “ Je vous entend ; de low countrie, 
h ees freeze up for half de year.” 

The error of Mr. Le Quoi was not noticed by the 


THE PIONEERS. 


313 


Sheriff ; and the rest of the party were yielding to 
the influence of the changeful season, that was al- 
ready teaching the equestrians that a continuance 
of its mildness was not to be expected for any 
length of time. Silence and thoughtfulness suc- 
ceeded the gayety and conversation that had pre- 
vailed during the commencement of their ride, as 
clouds began to gather about the heavens, appa- 
rently collecting from every quarter, in quick mo- 
tion, without the agency of a breath of air. 

While riding over one of the cleared eminences 
that occurred in their route, the watchful eye of 
Judge Temple pointed out to his daughter the ap- 
proach of a tempest. Flurries of snow already ob- 
scured the mountain that formed the northern 
boundary of the lake, and the genial sensation 
which had quickened the blood through their veins 
was already succeeded by the deadening influence 
of an approaching north-wester. 

All of the party were now busily engaged in 
making the best of their way to the village, though 
the badness of the roads frequently compelled them 
to check the impatience of their animals, which of- 
ten carried them over places that would not admit 
of any gait faster than a walk. 

Richard continued in advance, and was followed 
by Mr. Le Quoi ; next to whom rode Elizabeth, 
who seemed to have imbibed the distance which 
pervaded the manner of young Edwards, since the 
termination of -the discourse between the latter and 
her father. Marmaduke followed his daughter, 
giving her frequent and tender warnings as to her 
safety and the management of her horse. It was, 
possibly, the evident dependence that Louisa Grant 
placed on his assistance, which induced the youth 
to continue by her side, as they pursued their wav 
thiougb a dreary and dark wood, where the rays 


314 


THE PIONEERS. 


of the sun could but rarely penetrate, and where 
even the daylight was obscured and rendered 
gloomy by the deep forests that surrounded them. 
No wind had yet reached the spot where the 
equestrians were in motion, but that dead stillness 
that often precedes a storm, contributed to render 
their situation more irksome than if they were al- 
ready subjected to the fury of the tempest. Sud- 
denly the voice of young Edwards was heard 
shouting, in those appalling tones that carry alarm 
to the very soul, and which curdle the blood of 
those that hear them — 

“ A tree ! a tree ! whip — spur for your lives ! a 
tree ! a tree !” 

u A tree ! a tree !” echoed Richard, giving his 
horse a blow that caused the alarmed beast to jump 
nearly a rod, throwing the mud and water into the 
air, like a hurricane. 

u Von tree! von tree !” shouted the French- 
man, bending his body on the neck of his charger, 
shutting his eyes, and playing on the ribs of his 
beast with his heels, at a rate that caused him to be 
conveyed on the crupper of the Sheriff, with a 
marvellous speed. 

Elizabeth checked her filly, and looked up, with 
an unconscious but alarmed air, at the very cause 
of their danger, while she listened to the crackling 
sounds that awoke the stillness of the forest ; but^ 
the next instant, her bridle was seized* by her fa- 
ther, who cried — 

u God protect my child !” and she felt herself 
hurried onward, impelled by the vigour of his 
nervous arm. 

Each one of the party bowed to their saddle- 
bows, as the tearing of branches was succeeded by 
a sound like the rushing of the winds, which was 
followed by a thundering report, and a shock that 


THE PIONEERS. 


315 


caused the very earth to tremble, as one of the no- 
blest ruins in the forest fell directly across their 
path. 

One glance was enough to assure Judge Tem- 
ple that his daughter and those in front of him, 
were safe, and he turned his eyes, in dreadful anx- 
iety, to learn the fate of the others. Young Ed- 
wards was on the opposite side of the tree, with 
his form thrown back in his saddle to its utmost 
distance, his left hand drawing up his bridle with 
its greatest force, while the right grasped that of 
Miss Grant, so as to draw the head of her horse 
under its body. Both the animals stood shaking 
in every joint with terror, and snorting fearfully. 
The maiden herself had relinquished her reins, and 
with her hands pressed on her face sat bending 
forward in her saddle, in an attitude of despair 
mingled strangely with resignation. 

“ Are you safe ?” cried the Judge, first breaking 
the awful silence of the moment. 

w By God’s blessing,” returned the youth ; ct but 
if there had been branches to the tree we must 
have been lost — ” 

He was interrupted by the figure of Louisa, 
slowly yielding in her saddle ; and but for his arm, 
she would have sunken to the earth. Terror, 
however, was the only injury that the clergyman’s 
daughter had sustained, and with the aid of Eliza- 
beth, she was soon restored to her senses. After 
some little time was lost in recovering her strength, 
the young lady was replaced in her saddle, and, 
supported on either side by Judge Temple and Mr. 
Edwards, she was enabled to follow the party in 
their slow progress. 

“ The sudden falling of the trees,” said Marma 
duke, “ are the most dangerous of our accidents in 
the forest, for they are not to be foreseen, being 


316 


THE PIONEERS. 


impelled by no winds, nor any extraneous or visi- 
ble cause, against which we can guard.” 

“ The reason of their falling, Judge Temple, is 
very obvious,” said the Sheriff. u The tree is old 
and decayed, and it is gradually weakened by the 
frosts, until a line drawn from the centre of gravity 
falls without its base, and then the tree comes of 
a certainty ; and I should like to know, what 
greater compulsion there can be for any thing, than 
a mathematical certainty. I studied mathe ” 

“ Very true, Richard,” interrupted Marmaduke ; 
u thy reasoning is true, and if my memory be not 
over treacherous, was furnished by myself on a 
former occasion. But how is one to guard against 
the danger? canst thou go through the forests, 
measuring the bases, and calculating the centres 
of the oaks ? answer me that, friend Jones, and i 
will say thou wilt do the country a service.” 

“ Answer thee that, friend Temple !” returned 
Richard ; “ a well-educated man can answer thee 
any thing, sir. Do any trees fall in this manner, 
but such as are decayed ? Take care not to ap- 
proach the roots of any rotten trees, and you will 
be safe enough.” 

“ That would be excluding us entirely from the 
forests,” said Marmaduke. “ But, happily, the 
winds usually force down most of these dangerous 
ruins, as their currents are admitted into the woods 
by the surrounding clearings, and such a fall as this 
has been is very rare.” 

Louisa, by this time, had recovered so much of 
her strength, as to allow the party to proceed at a 
quicker pace ; but long before they were safely 
housed, they were overtaken by the storm; and 
when they dismounted at the door of the Mansion- 
house, the black plumes of Miss Temple’s hat 
were drooping with the weight of a load of damp 


THE PIONEERS 


317 


snow, and the coats of the gentlemen were pow- 
dered with the same material. 

While Edwards was assisting Louisa from her 
horse, the warm-hearted girl caught his hand with 
fervour, and whispered — 

“ Now, Mr. Edwards, both father and daughter 
owe their lives to you.” 

A driving, northwesterly storm succeeded ; and 
before the sun was set, every vestige of spring had 
vanished ; the lake, the mountains, the village, and 
the fields, being again hid under one dazzling coat 
of snow. 

27 * 


CHAPTER XXII. 


“ Men, boys, and girls, 

Desert th’ unpeopled village ; and wild crowds 
Spread o’er the plain, by the sweet frenzy driven.” 

Somerville. 


From this time to the close of April, the wea- 
ther continued to be a succession of great and ra- 
pid changes. One day, the soft airs of spring 
would seem to be stealing along the valley, and, 
in unison with an invigorating sun, attempting, co- 
vertly, to rouse the dormant powers of the vegeta- 
ble world ; while on the next, the surly blasts from 
the north would sweep across the lake, and erase 
every impression left by their gentle adversaries. 
The snow, however, finally disappeared, and the 
green wheat fields w T ere seen in every direction, 
spotted with the dark and charred stumps that had, 
the preceding season, supported some of the proud- 
est trees of the forest. Ploughs were in motion, 
wherever those useful implements could be used, 
and the smokes of the sugar-camps were no longer 
seen issuing from the summits of the woods of ma- 
ple. The lake had lost all the characteristic beau- 
ty of a field of ice, but still a dark and gloomy co- 
vering concealed its waters, for the absence of cur- 
rents left them yet hid under a porous crust, which, 
saturated with the fluid, barely retained enough of 
its strength to preserve the contiguity of its parts. 


THE PIONEERS. 


319 


Large flocks of wild geese were seen passing over 
the country, which hovered, for a time, around the 
hidden sheet of water, apparently searching for an 
opening, where they might find a resting-place ; 
and then, on finding themselves excluded by the 
chill covering, would soar away to the north, filling 
the air with their discordant screams, as if venting 
their complaints at the tardy operations of nature. 

For a week, the dark covering of the Otsego was 
left to the undisturbed possession of two eagles, 
who alighted on the centre of its field, and sat 
proudly eyeing the extent of their undisputed ter- 
ritory. During the presence of these monarchs of 
the air, the flocks of migrating birds avoided cross- 
ing the plain of ice, by turning into the hills, appa- 
rently seeking the protection of the forests, while 
the white and bald heads of the tenants of the lake 
were turned upward, with a look of majestic con- 
tempt, as if penetrating to the very heavens with 
the acuteness of their vision. But the time had 
come, when even these kings of birds were to be 
dispossessed. An opening had been gradually in- 
creasing, at the lower extremity of the lake, and 
around the dar k spot where the current of the river 
had prevented the formation of ice, during even 
the coldest weather ; and the fresh southerly 
winds, that now breathed freely up the valley, ob- 
tained an impression on the waters. Mimic waves 
began to curl over the margin of the frozen field, 
which exhibited an outline of crystallizations, that 
slowly receded towards the north. At each step 
the power of the winds and the waves increased, 
until, after a struggle of a few hours, the turbulent 
tittle billows succeeded in setting the whole field 
in an undulating motion, when it was driven be- 
yond the reach of the eye, with a rapidity that was 
as magical as the change produced in the scene by 


320 


THE PIONEERS. 


this expulsion of the lingering remnant of winter. 
Just as the last sheet of agitated ice was disappear- 
ing in the distance, the eagles rose over the border 
of crystals, and soared with a wide sweep far above 
the clouds, while the waves tossed their little caps 
of snow into the air, as if rioting in their release 
from a thraldom of five months’ duration 

The following morning Elizabeth was awakened 
by the exhilarating sounds of the martins, who 
were quarrelling and chattering around the little 
boxes that were suspended above her windows, 
and the cries of Richard, who was calling, in tones 
as animating as the signs of the season itself — 

u Awake ! awake ! my lady fair ! the gulls are 
hovering over the lake already, and the heavens 
are alive with the pigeons. You may look an hour 
before you can find a hole, through which to get a 
peep at the sun. Awake ! awake ! lazy ones ! 
Benjamin is overhauling the ammunition, and we 
only wait for our breakfasts, and away for the 
mountains and pigeon shooting.” 

There was no resisting this animated appeal, and 
in a few minutes Miss Temple and her friend de- 
scended to the parlour. The doors of the hall were 
thrown open, and the mild, balmy air of a clear 
spring morning was ventilating the apartment, 
where the vigilance of the ex-steward had been 
so long maintaining an artificial heat with such un 
remitted diligence. The gentlemen were impa 
tiently waiting for their morning’s repast, each be 
ing equipt in the garb of a sportsman. Mr. Jones 
made many visits to the southern door, and would 
cry— 

“ See, cousin Bess ! see, ’duke, the pigeon- 
roosts of the south have broken up ! They are 
growing moi e thick every instant. Here is a flock 
'‘hat the eye cannot see the end of. There is food 


THE PIONEERS. 


321 


enough in it to keep the army of Xerxes for a 
month, and feathers enough to make beds for the 
whole county. Xerxes, Mr. Edwards, was a Gre- 
cian king, who — no, he was a Turk, or a Persian, 
who wanted to conquer Greece, just the same as 
these rascals will overrun our wheat-fields, when 
they come back in the fall. Away ! away ! Bess ; 
I long to pepper them from the mountain.” 

In this wish both Marmaduke and young Ed- 
wards seemed equally to participate, for the sight 
was most exhilarating to a sportsman ; and the la- 
dies soon dismissed the party, after a hasty break- 
fast. 

If the heavens were alive with pigeons, the 
whole village seemed equally in motion, with men, 
women, and children. Every species of fire-arms, 
from the French ducking-gun, with its barrel of 
near six feet in length, to the common horseman’s 
pistol, was to be seen in the hands of the men and 
boys ; while bows and arrows, some made of the 
simple stick of a walnut sapling, and others in a 
rude imitation of the ancient cross-bows, were car- 
ried by many of the latter. 

The houses and the signs of life apparent in the 
village, drove the alarmed birds from the direct 
line of their flight, towards the mountains, along 
the sides and near the bases of which they were 
glancing in dense masses, that were equally won- 
derful by the rapidity of their motion, as by their 
incredible numbers. 

We have already said, that across the inclined 
plane which fell from the steep ascent of the moun- 
tain to the banks of the Susquehanna, ran the high- 
way, on either side of which a clearing of many 
acres had been made at a very early day. Over 
those clearings, and up the eastern mountain, and 
along the dangerous path that was cut into its side. 


322 


THE PIONEERS. 


the different individuals posted themselves, as 
suited their inclinations ; and in *a few moments 
the attack commenced. 

Among the sportsmen was to be seen the tall, 
gaunt form of Leather-stocking, who was walking 
over the field, with his rifle hanging on his arm, 
his dogs following close at his heels, now scenting 
the dead or wounded birds, that were beginning 
to tumble from the flocks, and then crouching un- 
der the legs of their master, as if they participated 
in his feelings at this wasteful and unsportsmanlike 
execution. 

The reports of the fire-arms became rapid, whole 
volleys rising from the plain, as flocks of more than 
ordinary numbers darted over the opening, cover- 
ing the field with darkness, like an interposing 
cloud ; and then the light smoke of a single piece 
would issue from among the leafless bushes on the 
mountain, as death was hurled on the retreat of the 
affrighted birds, who were rising from a volley, for 
many feet into the air, in a vain effort to escape 
the attacks of man. Arrows, and missiles of every 
kind, were seen in the midst of the flocks ; and so 
numerous were the birds, and so low did they take 
their flight, that even long poles, in the hands of 
those on the sides of the mountain, were used to 
strike them to the earth. 

During all this time, Mr. Jones, who disdained 
the humble and ordinary means of destruction used 
by his companions, was busily occupied, aided by 
Benjamin, in making arrangements for an assault 
of a more than ordinarily fatal character. Among 
the relics of the old military excursions, that occa- 
sionally are discovered throughout the different 
districts of the western part of New- York, there 
had been found in Templeton, at its settlement, a 
small swivel, which would carry a ball of a pound 


THE PIONEERS. 


323 


weight. It was thought to have been deserted by 
a war-party of the whites, in one of their inroads 
into the Indian settlements, when, perhaps their 
convenience or their necessities induced them to 
leave such an incumbrance behind them in the 
woods. This miniature cannon had been released 
h orn the rust, and being mounted on little wheels, 
was now in a state for actual service. For several 
years, it was the sole organ for extraordinary re- 
joicings that was used in those mountains. On the 
mornings of the Fourths of July, it would be heard, 
with its echoes ringing among the hills, and telling 
forth its sounds, for thirteen times, with all the 
dignity of a two-and-thirty pounder ; and even 
Captain Hollister, who was the highest authority 
in that part of the country on all such occasions, 
affirmed that, considering its dimensions, it was no 
despicable gun for a salute. It was somewhat the 
worse for the service it had performed, it is true, 
(here being but a trifling difference in size between 
the touch-hole and the muzzle. Still, the grand 
conceptions of Richard had suggested the impor- 
tance of such an instrument, in hurling death at 
his nimble enemies. The swivel was dragged by 
a horse into a part of the Open space, that the She- 
riff thought most eligible for planting a battery of 
the kind, and Mr. Pump proceeded to load it. 
Several handfuls of duck-shot were placed on top 
of the powder, and the Major-domo soon announced 
that his piece was ready for service. 

The sight of such an implement^ collected all the 
idle spectators to the spot, who, bemg mostly boys, 
filled the air with their cries of exultation and de • 
light. The gun was pointed on high, and Richard, 
holding a coal of fire in a pair of tongs, patiently 
took his seat on a stump, awaiting the appearance 
of a flock that was worthy of his notice. 


324 


THE PIONEERS. 


So prodigious was the number of the birds, that 
the scattering fire of the guns, with the hurling of 
missiles, and the cries of the boys, had no other 
effect than to break off small flocks from the im- 
mense masses that continued to dart along the val- 
ley, as if the whole creation of the feathered tribe 
were pouring through that one pass. None pre- 
tended to collect the game, which lay scattered 
over the fields in such profusion as to cover the 
very ground with the fluttering victims. 

Leather-stocking was a silent, but uneasy spec- 
tator of all these proceedings, but was able to keep 
his sentiments to himself until he saw the intro- 
duction of the swivel into the sports. 

u This comes of settling a country !” he said — 
u here have 1 known the pigeons to fly for forty 
long years, and, till you made your clearings, there 
was nobody to skear or to hurt them. I loved to 
see them come into the woods, for they were com 
pany to a body ; hurting nothing ; being, as it was 
as harmless as a garter-snake. But now it gives 
me sore thoughts when I hear the frighty things 
whizzing through the air, for I know it’s only a 
motion to bring out all the brats in the village at 
them. Well ! the Lord won’t see the waste of hie 
creaters for nothing, and right will be done to the 
pigeons, as well as others, by-and-by. There’s 
Mr. Oliver, as bad as the rest of them, firing into 
the flocks as if he was shooting down nothing but 
the Mingo warriors.” 

Among the sportsmen was Billy Kirby, who, 
armed with an old musket, was loading, and with- 
out even looking into the air, was firing and shout- 
ing as his victims fell even on his own person. He 
heard the speech of Natty, and took upon himself 
to reply — 

u What’s that, old Leather-stocking !” he cried. 


THE PIONEERS. 


325 


w grumbling at the loss of a few pigeons ! If you 
had to sow your wheat twice, and three times, as 
1 have done, you wouldn’t be so massyfully feel- 
ing’d to’ards the divils. — Hurrah, boys ! scatter 
the feathers. This is better than shooting at a tur- 
key’s head and neck, old fellow.” 

“ It’s better for you r maybe, Billy Kirby,” re- 
plied the indignant old hunter, “ and all them as 
don’t know how to put a ball down a rifle-barrel, 
or how to bring it up ag’n with a true aim ; but it’s 
wicked to be shooting into flocks in this wasty 
manner ; and none do it, who know how to knock 
over a single bird. If a body has a craving for 
pigeon’s flesh, why ! it’s made the same as all other 
creater’s, for man’s eating, but not to kill twenty 
and eat one. When I want such a thing I go into 
the woods till I find one to my liking, and then I 
shoot him off the branches without touching a fea- 
ther of another, though there might be a hundred 
on the same tree. But you couldn’t do such a 
thing, Billy Kirby — you couldn’t do it if you tried.” 

u What’s that you say, you old, dried corn- 
stalk ! you sapless stub !” cried the wood-chopper. 
“ You’ve grown mighty boasting, sin’ you killed 
the turkey ; but if you’re for a single shot, here 
goes at that bird which comes on by himself.” 

The fire from the distant part of the field had 
driven a single pigeon below the flock to which it 
had belonged, and frightened with the constant re- 
ports of the muskets, it was approaching the spot 
where the disputants stood, darting first from one 
side, and then to the other, cutting the air with the 
swiftness of lightning, and making a noise with its 
wings, not unlike the rushing of a bullet. Unfor- 
tunately for the wood-chopper, notwithstanding his 
vaunt, he did not see his bird until it was too late 
for him to fire as it approached, and he pulled his 


326 


THE PIONEERS. 


trigger at the unlucky moment when it was dart- 
ing immediately over his head. The bird conti- 
nued its course with incredible velocity. 

Natty lowered the rifle from his arm, when the 
challenge was made, and, waiting a moment, until 
the terrified victim had got in a line with his eyes, 
and had dropped near the bank of the lake, he 
raised it again with uncommon rapidity, and fired. 
It might have been chance, or it might have been 
skill, that produced the result ; it was probably a 
union of both ; but the pigeon whirled over in the 
air, and fell into the lake, with a broken wing. At 
the sound of his rifle, both his dogs started from 
his feet, and in a few minutes the u slut” brought 
out the bird, still alive. 

The wonderful exploit of Leather-stocking was 
noised through the field with great rapidity, and 
the sportsmen gathered in to learn the truth of the 
report. 

“ What,” said young Edwards, u have you real- 
ly killed a pigeon on the wing, Natty, with a single 
ball ?” 

“ Haven’t I killed loons before now, lad, that 
dive at the flash ?” returned the hunter. u It’s 
much better to kill only such as you want, with- 
out wasting your powder and lead, than to be firing 
into God’s creaters in such a wicked manner. But 
I come out for a bird, and you know the reason 
why I like small game, Mr. Oliver, and now I have 
got one I will go home, for I don’t relish to see 
these wasty ways that you are all practysing, as if 
the least thing wasn’t made for use, and not to de- 
stroy. ” 

“ Thou sayest well, Leather-stocking,” cried 
Marmaduke, u and I begin to think it time to put 
an end to this work of destruction.” 

“ Put an ind. Judge, to your clearings. An’t 


THE PIONEERS. 


327 


the woods his work as well as the pigeons ? Use, 
but don’t waste. Wasn’t the woods made loi the 
beasts and birds to harbour in ? and when man 
wanted their flesh, their skins, or their feathers, 
there’s the place to seek them. But I’ll go to the 
hut with my own game, for I wouldn’t touch one 
of the harmless things that kiver the ground here, 
looking up with their eyes on me, as if they only 
wanted tongues to say their thoughts.” 

With this sentiment in his mouth Leather-stock- 
ing threw his rifle over his arm, and followed by 
his dogs, stepping across the clearing with great 
caution, taking care not to tread on one of the 
wounded birds that lay in his path. He soon en- 
tered the bushes on the margin of the lake, and 
was hid from view. 

Whatever impression the morality of Natty made 
on the Judge, it was utterly lost on Richard. He 
availed himself of the gathering of the sportsmen, 
to lay a plan for one “ fell swoop” of destruction. 
The musket-men were drawn up in battle array, 
in a line extending on each side of his artillery, 
with orders to await the signal of firing from him- 
self. 

“ Stand by, my lads,” said Benjamin, who acted 
as an aid-de-camp on this momentous occasion, 
“ stand by, my hearties, and when Squire Dickens 
heaves out the signal for to begin firing, d’ye see, 
you may open upon them in a broadside. Take 
care and fire low, boys, and you’ll be sure to hull 
the flock.” 

“ Fire low !” shouted Kirby — “ hear the old 
fool ! If we fire low, we may hit the stumps, but 
not ruffle a pigeon.” 

“ How should you know, you lubber?” cried 
Benjamin, with a very unbecoming heat for an of- 
ficer on the eve of battle — “ how should you know, 


328 


THE PIONEERS. 


you grampus ? Haven’t I sailed aboard of the 
Boadishy for five years ? and wasn’t it a standing 
order to fire low, and to hull your enemy ? Keep 
silence at your guns, boys, and mind the order tha< 
is passed.” 

The loud laughs of the musket-men were si- 
lenced by the authoritative voice of Richard, who 
called to them for attention and obedience to his 
signals. 

Some millions of pigeons were supposed to have 
already passed, that morning, over the valley of 
Templeton ; but nothing like the flock that was 
now approaching had been seen before. It extend- 
ed from mountain to mountain in one solid blue 
mass, and the eye looked in vain over the southern 
hills to find its termination. The front of this liv- 
ing column was distinctly marked by a line but 
very slightly indented, so regular and even was 
the flight. Even Marmaduke forgot the morality of 
Leather-stocking as it approached, and, in common 
with the rest, brought his musket to his shoulder. 

“ Fire !” cried the Sheriff*, clapping his coal to 
the priming of the cannon. As half of Benjamin’s 
charge escaped through the touch-hole, the whole 
volley of the musketry preceded the report of the 
swivel. On receiving this united discharge ot 
small arms, the front of the flock darted upward, 
while, at the same instant, myriads of those in their 
rear rushed with amazing rapidity into their places, 
so that when the column of white smoke gushed 
from the mouth of the little cannon, an accumu- 
lated mass of objects was gliding over its point ol 
direction. — The roar of the gun echoed along the 
mountains, and died away to the north, like distant 
thunder, while the whole flock of alarmed birds 
seemed, for a moment, thrown into one disorderly 
and agitated mass. The air was filled with their 


THE PIONEERS. 


329 


irregular flights, layer rising over layer, far above 
the tops of the highest pines, none dari/ig to ad- 
vance beyond the dangerous pass ; when, sudden- 
ly, some of the leaders of the feathered tribe shot 
across the valley, taking their flight directly over 
the village, and the hundreds of thousands in their 
rear followed their example, deserting the eastern 
side of the plain to their persecutors and their 
fallen. 

u Victory !” shouted Richard, u victory ! we 
have driven the enemy from the field.” 

u Not so, Dickon,” said Marmaduke ; a the field 
is covered with them ; and, like the^Leather- 
stocking, I see nothing but eyes, in every direc- 
tion, as the innocent sufferers turn their heads, in 
terror, to examine my movements. Full one haif 
of those that have fallen are yet alive : and I think 
it is time to end the sport ; if sport it be.” 

“ Sport !” cried the Sheriff ; “ it is princely 
Sport ! There are some thousands of the blue- 
coated boys on the ground, so that every old wo- 
man in the village may have a pot-pie for the ask- 
ing.” 

“ Well, we have happily frightened the birds 
from this side the valley,” said Marmaduke, “ and 
our carnage must of necessity end, for the present. 
Boys, I will give you sixpence a hundred for the 
pigeons’ heads only : so go to work, and bring 
them into the village, where 1 will pay you.” 

This expedient produced the desired .effect, for 
every urchin on the ground went industriously to 
work to wring the necks of the wounded birds. 
Judge Temple retired towards his dwelling with 
that kind of feeling, that many a man has experi- 
enced before him, who discovers, after the excite- 
ment of the moment has passed, that he has pur- 
chased pleasure at the price of misery to others. 

28 * 


330 


THE PIONEERS 


Horses were loaded with the dead ; and, after the 
first burst of sporting, the shooting of pigeons be- 
came a business, for the remainder of the season, 
more in proportion to the people. Richard, how- 
ever, boasted for many a year, of his shot with the 
u cricket and Benjamin gravely asserted, that 
he thought they killed nearly as many pigeons on 
that day, as there were Frenchmen destroyed on 
the memorable occasion of Rodney’s victory. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 



Pericles of Tyre. 


The advance of the season now became as rapid 
as its first approach had been tedious and lingering. 
The days were uniformly mild, and genial to vege- 
tation, while the nights, though cool, were no lon- 
ger chilled by frosts. The whip-poor-will was 
heard whistling his melancholy notes along the mar- 
gin of the lake, and the ponds and meadows were 
sending forth the music of their thousand tenants. 
The leaf of the native poplar was seen quivering 
in the woods ; the sides of the mountains began to 
lose their hue of brown, as the lively green of the 
different members of the forest blended their 
shades with the permanent colours of the pine and 
hemlock ; and even the buds of the tardy oak were 
swelling with the promise of the coming summer. 
The gay and fluttering blue-bird, the social robin, 
and the industrious little wren, were all to be seen 
enlivening the fields with their presence and their 
songs ; while the soaring fish-hawk was already ho- 
lering over the waters of the Otsego, watching, 
with his native voracity, for the appearance of his 
prey. 

The tenants ol the lake were far-famed for both 


332 


THE PIONEERS. 


their quantities and their quality, and the ice had 
hardly disappeared, before numberless little boats 
were launched from the shores, and the lines of 
the fishermen were dropped into the inmost re- 
cesses of its deepest caverns, tempting the unwaiy 
animals with every variety of bait that the ingenu- 
ity or the art of man had invented. But the slow, 
though certain adventures with a hook and line 
were ill-suited to the profusion and impatience of 
the settlers. — More destructive means were resort- 
ed to ; and, as the season had now arrived when 
the bass-fisheries were allowed by the provisions 
of the law that Judge Temple had procured, the 
Sheriff declared his intention, by availing himself 
of the first dark night, to enjoy the sport in person — 

“ And you shall be present, cousin Bess,” he 
added, when he announced this intention, “ and 
Miss Grant, and Mr. Edwards ; and I will show 
you what I call fishing — not nibble, nibble, nibble, 
as ’duke does when he goes after the salmon-trout. 
There he will sit for hours, in a broiling sun, or, 
perhaps, over a hole in the ice, in the coldest days 
in winter, under the lee of a few bushes, and not 
a fish will he catch, after all this mortification of 
the flesh. No, no — give me a good seine that’s 
fifty or sixty fathoms in length, with a jolly parcel 
of boatmen to crack their jokes the while, and 
with Benjamin to steer, and let us haul them in 
by thousands, and I shall call that fishing.” 

“ Ah ! Dickon,” cried Marmaduke, u thou know- 
est but little of the pleasure there is in playing 
with the hook and line, or thou wouldst be more 
saving of the game. I have known thee to leave 
fragments enough behind thee, when thou hast 
headed a night-party on the lake, to feed a half- 
dozen famishing families.” 

“ 1 shall not dispute* the matter with you, Judge 


THE PIONEERS. 


333 


Temple,” said the Sheriff with much dignity ; “ this 
night will I go ; and I invite the company to attend, 
and then let them decide between us.” 

Richard was busy, during most of the afternoon, 
making his preparations for the important occasion. 
Just as the light of the setting sun had disappeared, 
and a new moon had begun to cause faint shadows 
to be seen on the earth, the fishermen took their 
departure in a boat, for a point that was situated 
on the western shore of the lake, at the distance 
of rather more than half a mile from the village. 
The ground had become settled, and the walking 
was good and dry. Marmaduke, with his daugh- 
ter, her friend, and young Edwards, continued on 
the high grassy banks at the outlet of the placid 
sheet of water, watching the dark object that was 
moving with great rapidity across the lake, until it 
entered the shade of the western hills, and was 
lost to the eye. The distance round by land to 
the point of their destination was a mile, and he 
observed — 

“ It is time for us to be moving ; the moon will 
be down ere we reach the point, and* then the mi- 
raculous hauls of Dickon will commence.” 

The evening was warm, and after the long and 
dreary winter from which they had just escaped, 
delightfully invigorating, both to the mind and 
body. Inspirited by the scene and their antici- 
pated amusement the youthful companions of the 
Judge followed his steps, as he led them along the 
shores of the Otsego, and through the skirts of the 
little village. 

“ See !” said young Edwards, “ they are build- 
ing their fire already ^ it glimmers for a moment, 
and then dies again like the light of a fire-fly.” 

“ Now it blazes like a bonfire ?” cried Eliza- 


334 


THE PIONEERS. 


beth ; “ you can see the figures moving around the 
light. Oh ! I would bet my jewels against the gold 
beads of Remarkable, that my impatient cousin 
Dickon had an agency in raising that bright flame , 
— and see ; it begins to fade again, like most of his 
brilliant schemes.” 

“ Thou hast guessed the truth, Bess,” said her 
father ; “ he has thrown an armful of brush on the 
pile, which has burnt out as soon as lighted. But 
it has enabled them to find a better fuel, for their 
fire begins to blaze with a more steady flame. It 
is the true fisherman’s beacon now ; observe how 
beautifully it throws its little circle of light on the 
water!” 

The appearance of the fire urged the pedestri- 
ans on, for even the ladies had become eager to 
witness the draught of the seine. By the time they 
reached the bank, which rose above the low point 
where the fisherman had landed, the moon had 
sunk behind the tops of the western pines, and, as 
most of the stars were obscured by the clouds, 
there was but little other light, by which to view 
the scene, than that which proceeded from the 
large piles of brush, branches, and roots, that had 
been collected, under the superintendence of Ri- 
chard. At the suggestion of Marmaduke, his com- 
panions paused to listen to the conversation of 
those below them, and examine the party, for a 
moment, before they descended to the shore. 

The whole group were seated around the fire, 
on the ground, with the exception of Richard and 
Benjamin ; the former of whom occupied the root 
of a decayed stump, that had been drawn to the 
spot as part of their fuel, and the latter was stand- 
ing, with his arms a-kimbo, so near to the flame, 
that the smoke occasionally obscured his solemn 


THE PIONEERS. 


335 


* jugc, as it waved around the pile, in obedience 
the light night-airs, that swept gently over the 
surface of the water. 

“ Why, look you, Squire,” said the Major-do- 
mo, u you may call a lake-fish that will weigh 
twenty or thirty pounds a serious matter ; but to 
a man who has hauled in a shovel-nosed shirk, d’ye 
see, it’s but a poor kind of fishing after all.” 

a I don’t know, Benjamin,” returned the She- 
riff; “a haul of one thousand Otsego bass, with- 
out counting pike, pickerel, perch, bull-pouts, sal- 
mon-trouts, and suckers, is no bad fishing, let me 
tell you. There may be sport in sticking a shark, 
but what is he good for after you have got him ? 
Now any one of the fish that I have named is fit to 
set before a king.” 

“ Well, Squire,” returned Benjamin, “ just lis- 
ten to the philosophy of the thing. Would it 
stand to reason, that such fish should live and be 
catched in this here little pond of water, where it’s 
hardly deep enough to drown a man, as you’ll find 
in the wide ocean, where, as every body knows, 
that is, every body that has followed the seas, 
whales and grampuses are to be seen, that are as 
long as one of them pine trees on yonder moun- 
tain ?” 


“ Softly, softly, Benjamin,” said the Sheriff, 
rising a soothing manner, as if he .wished to save 
the credit of his favourite ; “ why some of the 
pines will measure full two hundred feet, and even 
more.” 

cc Two hundred or two thousand, it’s all the 
same thing,” cried Benjamin, with an air which 
manifested that he was not easily to be bullied out 
of his opinion, on a subject like the present — 
“ Haven’t I been there, and haven’t I seen ? 1 have 
said that you fall in with whales as long as one of 


THE PIONEERS. 


33(j 

them there pines ; and I’ll stand to what I have 
once said.” 

During this dialogue, Which was evidently but 
the close of a much longer discussion, the huge 
frame of Billy Kirby was seen extended on one 
side of the fire, where he was picking his teeth 
with the splinters of the chips that were near him, 
and occasionally shaking his head, with the distrust 
that was engendered by the marvellous qualities 
of Benjamin’s assertions. It seems that he now 
thought it time to advance his sentiments on the 
subject. 

a I’ve a notion,” said the wood-chopper, u that 
there’s water in this lake to swim the biggest whale 
that ever was invented ; and, as to the pines, 1 
think I ought to know so’thing consarning them ; 
and I have chopped many a one that was sixty 
times the length of my helve, without counting the 
eyes ; and I b’lieve, Benny, that if the old pine 
that stands in the hollow of the Vision Mountain, 
just over the village, and you may see the tree it- 
self by looking up, for the moon is on its top yet ; 
— well, now I b’lieve, that if that same tree was 
planted out in the deepest part of the lake, there 
would be water enough for the biggest ship that 
ever was built to float over it, without touching its 
upper branches, I do.” 

“ Did’ee ever see a ship, Master Kirby ?” roar- 
ed the steward — u did’ee ever see a ship, man ? or 
any craft bigger than a lime-scow, or a wood-boat, 
on this here small bit of fresh water- ?” 

u Yes, I have,” said the wood-chopper, stoutly ; 
u I can say that I have, and tell no lie.” 

“ Did’ee ever see a British ship, Master Kirby ? 
an English line-of-battle ship, boy ? Where away 
did’ee ever fall in with a regular-built vessel, with 
starn-post and cut-water, garboard streak and 


THIS PIONEERS. 


337 


plank-shear, gangways, and hatchways, and water- 
ways, quarter-deck and forecastle, ay, and flush- 
deck ? — tell me that, man, if you can ; where away 
did’ee ever fall in with such a hooker ; a full-rig- 
ged, regular-built, decked vessel ?” 

The whole company were a good deal astounded 
with this overwhelming question, and even Richard 
afterward remarked, that it “ was a thousand pities 
that Benjamin could not read, or he must have 
made a valuable officer to the British marine. It 
was no wonder that they overcome the French so 
easily on the water, when even the lowest sailor 
so well understood the different parts of a vessel.” 
But Billy Kirby was a fearless wight, and had great 
jealousy of foreign dictation ; he had arisen on his 
feet, and turned his back to the fire, during the 
voluble delivery of this interrogatory ; and when 
the steward ended, contrary to all expectation, he 
gave the following spirited reply : — 

“ Where ! why on the North River, and maybe 
on Champlain. There’s sloops on the river, boy 
that would give a hard time on’t to the stoutes* 
vessel King George owns. They carry masts o* 
ninety feet in the clear, of good, solid pine, for I’ve 
been at the chopping of many a one in Varmount 
state. I wish I was captain of one of them, and 
you was in that Board-dish that you tell so much 
about ; and we’d soon see what good Yankee stuff 
is made on, and whether a Yarmounter’s hide an’t 
as thick as an Englishman’s.” 

The echoes from the opposite hills, which were 
more than half a mile from the fishing point, sent 
back the discordant laugh that Benjamin* gave forth 
at this challenge ; and the woods that covered their 
sides, seemed, by the noise that issued from their 
shades, to be full of mocking demons. 

« Let us descend to the shore,” whispered Mar- 
29 


338 


THE PIONEERS. 


maduke, u or there will soon be ill blood between 
them. Benjamin is a fearless boaster, and Kirby, 
though good-natured, is a careless son of the forest, 
who thinks one American more than a match for six 
Englishmen. I marvel that Dickon is silent, where 
there is such a trial of skill in the superlative !” 

The appearance of Judge Temple and the ladies 
produced, if not a pacification, at least a cessation 
of hostilities. Obedient to the directions of Mr. 
Jones, the fishermen prepared to launch their boat, 
which had been seen in the back-ground of the 
view, with the net carefully disposed on a little 
platform in its stern, ready for instant service. Ri- 
chard gave vent to his reproaches at the tardiness 
of the pedestrians, when all the turbulent passions 
of the party were succeeded by a calm, as mild and 
as placid as that which prevailed over the beauti- 
ful sheet of water, that they were about to rifle of 
its best treasures 

The night had now become so dark as to render 
objects, without the reach of the light from their 
fire, not only indistinct, but, in most cases, invisi- 
ble. For a little distance the water was discerni- 
ble, glistening, as the glare from the fire danced 
over its surface, touching it, here and there, with 
red, quivering streaks ; but at a hundred feet from 
the shore, a boundary of impenetrable gloom op- 
posed itself to the vision. One or two stars wer* 
shining through the openings of the clouds, and the 
lights were seen in the village, glimmering faintly, 
as if at an immeasurable distance. At times, as 
their fire lowered, or as the horizon cleared, the 
.outline of the mountain, on the other side of the 
lake, might be traced, by its undulations ; but its 
shadow was cast, wide and dense, on the bosom of 
the waters, rendering the darkness, in that direc- 
tion, trebly deep. 


THE PIONEERS. 


339 


Benjamin Pump was invariably the cockswain 
and net-caster of Richard’s boat, unless the Sheriff 
saw fit to preside in person ; and, on the present 
occasion, Billy Kirby, and a youth of about half 
his strength, were assigned to the duty at the oars. 
The remainder of the assistants were stationed at 
the ropes, for the laborious service of hauling the 
net to land. The arrangements were speedily 
made, and Richard gave the signal to “shove off.” 

Elizabeth watched the motion of the batteau, as 
it pulled from the shore, letting loose its rope as it 
went, but it soon disappeared in the darkness, 
when her ear was her only guide to its evolutions. 
There was a great affectation of stillness, during 
all these manoeuvres, in order, as Richard assured 
them, “ not to frighten the bass, who were running 
into the shoal waters, and who would approach the 
light, if not disturbed by the sounds from the fish- 
ermen.” 

The hoarse voice of Benjamin was alone heard, 
issuing out of the gloom, as he uttered, in authori- 
tative tones, “ pull larboard oar,” “ pull starboard,” 
u give way together, boys,” and such other dicta- 
tive mandates as were necessary for the right dis- 
position of his seine. A long time was passed in 
this necessary part of the process, for Benjamin 
prided himself greatly on his skill in throwing the 
net, and, in fact, most of the success of the sport 
depended on its being done with judgment. At 
length a loud splash in the water, as he threw away 
the “ staff,” or “ stretcher,” with a hoarse call from 
the steward, of “ clear,” announced that the boat 
was returning to the shore ; when Richard seized 
a brand from the fire, and ran to a point, as far 
above the centre of the fishing ground, as the one 
from which the batteau had started was below it. 

“ Stick her in dead for the Squire, boys,” said 


340 


THE PIONEERS. 


the steward, u and we’ll have a look at what there 
is that grows in this here pond.” * 

In place of the falling net were now to be heard 
the quick strokes of the oars, and the noise of the 
rope running out of the boat. Presently the bat- 
teau shot into the circle of light, and in an instant 
she was pulled to shore. Several eager hands 
were extended, to receive the u hauling line,” and, 
both ropes being equally well manned, the fisher- 
men commenced hauling in, with slow and steady 
drags, Richard standing in the centre, giving or- 
ders, first to one party and then to the other, to in- 
crease or slacken their efforts, as the occasion re- 
quired. The visiters were posted near him, and 
enjoyed a fair view of the whole operation, which 
was slowly advancing to an end. 

Opinions, as to the result of their adventure, were 
now freely hazarded by all the men, some declaring 
that the net came in as light as a feather, and 
others affirming that it seemed to be full of logs. 
As the ropes were many hundred feet in length, 
these opposing sentiments were thought to be of 
little moment by the Sheriff, who would go first to 
one line and then to the other, giving each a small 
pull, in order to enable him to form an opinion for 
himself. 

“ Why, Benjamin,” he cried, as he made his 
first effort in this way, “ you did not throw youi 
net clear. I can moVe it with my little finger. 
The rope slackens in my hand.” 

u Did you ever see a whale, Squire ?” respond- 
ed the steward : “ I say that if that there net is 
foul, the devil is in the lake in the shape of a fish, 
for I cast it as fair as ever rigging was rove over 
the quarter-deck of a flag-ship.” 

But Richard discovered his mistake, when he 
saw Billy Kirby before him, standing with his feet 


THE PIONEERS. 


3 I J 


to the water, at an angle of forty-five degrees, in- 
clining shorewards, and expending his gigantic 
strength in sustaining himself in that posture. He 
ceased his remonstrances, and proceeded to the 
party at the other line. 

“ 1 see the 4 staffs,’ ” shouted Mr. Jones ; — 44 ga- 
ther in, boys, and away with it ; to shore with her 
—to shore with her.” 

At this cheerful sound, Elizabeth strained hei 
eyes and saw the ends of the two sticks on the 
seine, emerging from the darkness, while the men 
closed, near to each other, and formed a deep bag 
of their net. The exertions of the fishermen sen- 
sibly increased, and the voice of Richard was 
heard encouraging them to make their greatest 
efforts at the present moment. 

w Now’s the time, my lads,” he cried ; 44 let us 
get the ends to land, and all we have will be our 
own — away with her !” 

“ Away with her it is,” echoed Benjamin— 
a hurrah ! ho-a-hoy, ho-a-hoy, ho-a !” 

44 In with her,” shouted Kirby, exerting himself 
m a manner that left nothing for those in his rear 
to do, but to gather up the slack of the rope which 
he passed through his hands. 

44 Staff, ho !” shouted the steward. 

u Staff, ho !” echoed Kirby, from the other rope. 

The men rushed to the water’s edge, some 
seizing the upper rope, and some the lower, or 
lead-rope, and began to haul with great activity 
and zeal. A deep semicircular sweep, of the little 
balls that supported the seine in its perpendicular 
position, was plainly visible to the spectators, and, 
as it rapidly lessened in size, the bag of the net 
appeared, while an occasional flutter on the watei 
announced the uneasiness of the prisoners it con- 
tained. 


29 * 


342 


THE PIONEERS. 


ct Haul in, my lads,” shouted .Richard- I can 
see the dogs kicking to get free. Haul in, and 
here’s a cast that will pay you for the labour.” 

Fishes of various sorts now were to be seen, en- 
tangled in the meshes of the net, as it was passed 
through the hands of the labourers ; and the water, 
at a little distance from the shore, was alive with 
the agitated movements of the alarmed victims. 
Hundreds of white sides were glancing up to the 
surface of the water, and glistening in the fire- 
light, when frightened at the uproar and the change, 
the fish would again dart to the bottom, in fruitless 
efforts for freedom. 

“ Hurrah !” shouted Richard again ; “ one or 
two more heavy drags, boys, and we are safe.” 

u Cheerily, boys, cheerily !” cried Benjamin ; 
“ I see a salmon-trout that is big enough for a 
chowder.” 

“ Away with you, you varmint !” said Billy 
Kirby, plucking a bull-pout from the meshes, and 
casting the animal back into the lake with great 
contempt. “ Pull, boys, pull ; here’s all kinds, and 
the Lord condemn me for a liar, if there an’t a 
thousand bass !” 

Inflamed beyond the bounds of discretion at the 
sight, and forgetful of the season, the wood-chop- 
per rushed to his middle in the water, and began 
to drive the reluctant animals before him from their 
native element. 

“ Pull heartily, boys,” cried Marmaduke, yield- 
ing to the excitement of the moment, and laying 
his hands to the net, with no trifling addition to the 
force. Edwards had preceded him, for the sight 
of the immense piles of fish, that were slowly roll- 
ing over on the gravelly beach, had impelled him 
also to leave the ladies, and join the fishermen. 

Great care was observed in bringing the net to 


THE PIONEERS. 


343 


land, and, after much toil, the whole shoal of vic- 
tims were safe deposited in a hollow of the bank, 
where they were left to flutter away their brief 
existence in their new and fatal element. 

Even Elizabeth and Louisa were greatly excited 
and highly gratified by seeing two thousand cap- 
tives thus drawn from the bosom of the lake, and 
laid prisoners at their feet. But when the feelings 
of the moment were passing away, Marmaduke 
took in his hands a bass, that might have weighed 
two pounds, and after viewing it a moment, in me- 
lancholy musing, he turned to his daughter, and 
observed — 

u This is a fearful expenditure of the choicest 
gifts of providence. These fish, Bess, which thou 
seest lying in such piles before thee, and which, 
by to-morrow evening, will be rejected food on 
the meanest table in Templeton, are of a quality 
and flavour that, in other countries, would make 
them esteemed a luxury on the tables of princes or 
epicures. The world has no better fish than the 
bass of Otsego : it unites the richness of the shad 
to the firmness of the salmon.” 

“ But surely, dear sir,” cried Elizabeth, “ they 
must prove a great blessing to the country, and a 
powerful friend to the poor.” 

“ The poor are always prodigal, my child, where 
there is plenty, and seldom think of a provision 
against the morrow. But if there can be any ex- 
cuse for destroying animals in this manner, it is 
in taking the bass. During the winter, you know, 
they are entirely protected from our assaults by 
the ice^ for they ever refuse the hook ; and during 
the hot months they are not seen. It is supposed 
they retreat to the deep ind cool waters of the 
lake, at that season ; and it is only in the spring and 


344 


THE PIONEERS. 


autumn, that, for a few days, -they are to be found 
around the points where they are within the reach 
of a seine. But, like all the other treasures of the 
wilderness, they already begin to disappear before 
the wasteful extravagance of man.” 

“ Disappear, ’duke ! disappear!” exclaimed the 
Sheriff ; u if you don’t call this appearing, I know 
not what you will. Here are a good thousand of 
the shiners, some hundreds of suckers, and a pow- 
erful quantity of other fry. But this is always the 
way with you, Marmaduke ; first it’s the trees, 
then it’s the deer, after that it’s the mapie sugar, 
and so on to the end of the chapter. One day you 
talk of canals through a country where there’s a 
river or a lake every half-mile, just because the 
water won’t run the way you wish it to go ; and 
the next, you say something about mines of coal, 
though any man who has good eyes like myself— 
1 say with good eyes — -can see more wood than 
would keep the city of London in fuel for fifty 
years ; wouldn’t it, Benjamin ?” 

“Why, for that, Squire,” said the steward, 
“ Lon’on is no small place. If it was stretched an 
end, all the same as a town on one side of a river, 
it would cover some such matter as this here lake, 
rho’f I dar’st to say, that the wood in sight 
might sarve them a good turn, seeing that the 
Lon’oners mainly burn coal.” 

“ Now we are on the subject of coal, Judge 
Temple,” interrupted the Sheriff, “ I have a thing 
of much importance to communicate to you ; but I 
will defer it until to-morrow. I know that you in- 
tend riding into the eastern part of the patent, and 
I will accompany you, and conduct you to a spot, 
where some of your projects maybe realized. We 
will say no more now, sir, for there are listeners 


THE PIONEERS. 


345 


but a secret has this evening been revealed to me, 
’duke, that is of more consequence to your wel- 
fare, than all your estates united.” 

Marmaduke laughed at the important intelli- 
gence, to which in a variety of shapes he was ac- 
customed, and the Sheriff, with an air of great dig- 
ty, as if pitying his want of faith, proceeded in the 
business more immediately before them. As the 
labour of drawing the net had been very great, “he 
directed one party of his men to commence throw- 
ing the fish into piles, preparatory to the usual di 
vision, while another, under the superintendence 
of Benjamin, prepared the seine for a second haul. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 


“ While from its margin, terrible to tel] ! 

Three sailors with their gallant boatswain fell” 

Falconer. 


While the fishermen were employed in making 
the preparations for an equitable division of their 
spoils, ^Elizabeth and her friend strolled to a short 
distance from the group, along the shores of the 
lake. The shades of evening had been gradually 
gathering around the scene, during the draught of 
the net, and, while the objects in the vicinity of the 
fire were still distinct, and even vivid, the sur- 
rounding darkness became deeper, both by the 
contrast, and the advancing dominion of the night. 
After reaching a point, to which even the brightest 
of the occasional gleams of light from the fire did 
not extend, the ladies turned, and paused a mo- 
ment, in contemplation of the busy and lively party 
they had left, and of the obscurity, which, like the 
gloom of oblivion, seemed to envelope the rest of 
the creation. 

“ This is indeed a subject for the pencil !” ex- 
claimed Elizabeth. “ Observe the countenance 
of that wood-chopper, while he exults in present- 
ing a larger fish than common to my cousin Sheriff; 
and see, Louisa, how handsome and considerate 
my dear father looks, by the light of that fire, 


THE PIONEERS. 


347 


where he stands viewing the havoc of the game. 
He seems really melancnoly, as if he actually 
thought that a day of retribution was to follow^ this 
hour of abundance and prodigality ! Would they 
not make a fine picture, Louisa ?” 

“ You know that I am ignorant of all such ac- 
complishments, Miss Temple.” 

“ Call me by my Christian name,” interrupted 
Elizabeth; “ this is not a place, neither is this a 
scene, for the observance of forms.” 

“ Well, then, if I may venture an opinion,” said 
Louisa, timidly, “ I should think it might indeed 
make a picture. The selfish earnestness of that 
Kirby over his fish would contrast finely with the 
* — the — expression of Mr. Edwards’s face. I hardly 
know what to call it ; but it is — a — is — you know 
what I would say, dear Elizabeth.” 

“ You do me too much credit, Miss Grant,” said 
the heiress ; “ I am no diviner of thoughts, or in- 
terpreter of expressions.” 

There was certainly nothing harsh, or even 
cold, in the manner of the speaker, but still it 
repressed the conversation for a moment, and the 
maidens continued to stroll still further from their 
party, retaining each other’s arm, but observing a 
profound silence. Elizabeth, perhaps, conscious 
of the improper phraseology of her last speech, or 
perhaps excited by the new object that met her 
wandering gaze, was the first to break the present 
awkward cessation in the discourse, by exclaiming, 
in all the richness of her animated and animating 
voice — 

“ Look, Louisa ! we are not alone ; there are 
fishermen lighting a fire on the other side of the 
lake, immediately opposite to us ; it must be in 
front of the cabin of the Leather-stocking !” 

For some cause or other, Miss Grant had kept. 


348 


THE PIONEERS. 


her eyes bent in the direction of the pebbles, ovei 
which she was walking ; probably because, being 
less adventurous than her companion, she* was dis- 
posed to view what could be faintly discerned, 
without attempting the gloom, in a vain effort to 
pierce its mysteries ; or probably for some bettei 
reason, that we leave our readers to imagine ; bul 
thus awakened, she looked up, in the direction 
pointed out by her friend, and saw, at once, the 
cause of her sudden exclamation. 

Through the obscurity, which prevailed most 
immediately under the eastern mountain, a small 
and uncertain light was plainly to be seen, though 
as it was occasionally lost to the eye, it seemed 
struggling for its existence. They observed it to 
move, and sensibly to lower, as if carried down the 
descent of the bank to the shore. Here, in a very 
short time, its flame gradually expanded, and grew 
brighter, until it became of the size of a man’s head, 
when it continued to shine, a steady and glaring 
ball of fire. 

Such an object, lighted as it were bj T magic, un- 
der the brow of the mountain, and in that retired 
and unfrequented place, gave double interest to 
the beauty and singularity of its appearance. It 
did not at all resemble the large and unsteady light 
of their own fire, being much more clear and 
bright, and retaining its size and shape with per- 
fect uniformity. 

There are moments when the best regulated 
minds are, more or less, subjected to the injurious 
impressions which few have escaped in infancy, 
and Elizabeth smiled at her own weakness, while 
she remembered the idle tales which were circu- 
lated through the village, at the expense of the 
Leather-stocking. The same ideas seized her com- 
panion, and at the same instant, for Louisa pressed 


/ 


THE PIONEERS. 


S4U 

nearer to' her friend, as she said in a low voice, 
stealing a timid glance towards the bushes and 
trees that overhung the bank near them — 

u Did you ever hear the singulai ways of this 
Natty spoken of, Miss Temple ? They say that, 
in his youth, he was an Indian warrior, or, what is 
the same thing, a white man leagued with the sa- 
vages ; and it is thought he has been concerned in 
many of their inroads, in the old wars.” 

“ The thing is not at all improbable,” returned 
Elizabeth ; “ but he is not alone in that particular.” 

cc No, surely ; but is it not strange, that he is so 
cautious with his hut ? he never leaves it, without 
fastening it in a remarkable manner ; and, in seve 
ral instances, when the children, or even the men 
of the village, have wished to seek'a shelter there 
from the storms, he has been known to drive them 
from his door, with rudeness and threats. That 
surely is singular in this country !” 

“ It is certainly not being very hospitable ; but 
we must remember his aversion to the customs ol 
civilized life. You heard my father say, a few 
days since, how kindly he was treated by him on 
his first visit to this place.” Elizabeth paused, and 
smiled, with an expression of peculiar archness, 
though the darkness hid its meaning from her com- 
panion, as she continued : — “ Besides, he certainly 
admits the visits of Mr. Edwards, whom we both 
know to be far from a savage.” 

To this speech Louisa made no reply, but con- 
tinued gazing on the object which had elicited her 
remarks. In addition to the bright and circular 
flame was now to be seen a fainter though a vivid 
light, of an equal diameter to the other at the up- 
per end, but which, after extending downward for 
many feet, gradually tapered to a point at its lower 
extremity. A dark space was plainly visible be- 


1350 


THE PIONEERS. 


tween the two, and the new illumination was 
placed beneath the other, the whole forming an 
appearance not unlike an inverted note of admira- 
tion. It was soon evident that the latter was no- 
thing but the reflection, from the water, of the 
former, and that the object, whatever it might be, 
was advancing across, or rather over the lake, for 
it seemed to be several feet above its surface, in a 
direct line with themselves. Its motion was 
amazingly rapid, the ladies having hardly discover- 
ed that it was moving at all, before the waving 
light of a flame was discerned, losing its regular 
shape, while it increased in size, as it approached 
them. 

“ It appears to be supernatural !” whispered 
Louisa, beginning to retrace her steps towards the 
party. 

“ It is beautiful !” exclaimed Elizabeth. 

A brilliant though waving flame was now plainly 
visible, gracefully gliding over the lake, and throw- 
ing its light on the water in such a manner as to 
tinge it slightly ; though in the air, so strong was 
the contrast, the darkness seemed to have the dis- 
tinctness of material substances, as if the fire were 
imbedded in a setting of ebony. This appearance, 
however, gradually wore off, and the rays from 
the torch struck out, and enlightened the atmo- 
sphere in front of it, leaving the back-ground in 
a darkness that was more impenetrable than ever. 

“ Ho ! Natty, is that you ?” shouted the Sheriff 
— u paddle in, old boy, and I’ll give you a mess of 
fish that is fit to place before the Governor.” 

The light suddenly changed its direction, and a 
long and slightly-built boat hove up out of the 
gloom, while the red glare fell on the weather- 
beaten features of the Leather-stocking, whose tall 
person was seen erect in the frail vessel, wielding, 


THE PIONEERS. 


351 


with all the grace of an experienced boatman, a 
long fishing spear, which he held by its centre, first 
dropping one end and then the other into the wa- 
ter, to aid in propelling the little canoe of bark, 
we will not say through, but over the water. At 
the farther end of the vessel, a form was faintly 
seen, guiding its motions, and using a paddle wdth 
the ease of one who felt there was no necessity for 
extraordinary exertions. The Leather-stocking 
struck his spear lightly against the short staff which 
upheld, on a rude grating framed of old hoops of 
iron, the knots of pine that composed the fuel, and 
the light, which glared high, for an instant fell on 
the swarthy features, and dark, glancing eyes of 
Mohegan. 

The boat glided along the shore until it arrived 
opposite to the fishing-ground, when it again 
changed its direction, and moved on to the land, 
with a motion so graceful, and yet so rapid, that it 
seemed to possess the power of regulating its pro- 
gress by its own volition. The water in front of 
the canoe was hardly ruffled by its passage, and no 
sound betrayed the collision, when the light fabric 
shot on the gravelly beach, for nearly half its 
length, Natty receding a step or two from its bow\ 
m order to facilitate the landing. 

“ Approach, Mohegan,” said Marmaduke : “ ap- 
proach, Leather-stocking, and load your canoe with 
bass. It would be a shame to assail the animals 
with the spear, when such multitudes of victims 
lie here, that will be lost as food for the want of 
mouths to consume them.” 

“ No, no, Judge,” returned Natty, his tall figure 
stalking over the narrow beach, and ascending to 
the little grassy bottom where the fish were laid 
m piles ; “ I eat of no man’s wasty ways. I strike 
my spear into the eels, or the trout, when I crave 


352 


THE PIONEERS. 


the creaters, but I would’nt be helping to such a 
sinful kind of fishing, for the best rifle that was 
ever brought out from the old countries. If they 
had fur like a beaver, or you could tan their hides, 
like a buck, something might be said in favour of 
taking them by the thousands with your nets ; but 
as God made them for man’s food, and for no other 
disarnable reason, I call it sinful and wasty to catch 
more than can be eat.” 

“ Your reasoning is mine,” cried Marmaduke ; 
u for once, old hunter, we agree in our opinions ; 
and 1 heartily wish we could make a convert of the 
Sheriff. A net of halfjthe size of this would sup- 
ply the whole village with fish, for a week, at one 
haul.” 

The Leather-stocking did not relish this alliance 
in sentiment, and he shook his head doubtingly, as 
he answered — 

“ No, no ; we are not much of one mind, Judge, 
or you’d never turn good hunting grounds into 
stumpy pastures. # And you fish and hunt out of 
rule ; but to me, the flesh is sweeter, where the 
creater has some chance for its life ; for that rea- 
son, I always use a single ball, even if it be at a 
bird or a squirrel ; besides, it saves lead, for, when 
a body knows how to shoot, one piece of lead is 
enough for all, except hard-lived animals.” 

The Sheriff heard these opinions with great in- 
dignation, and when he completed the last arrange- 
ment for the division, by carrying, with his own 
hands, a trout of a large size, and placing it on four 
different piles in succession, as his changeful ideas 
of justice required, he gave vent to his spleen by 
exclaiming — 

A very pretty confederacy, indeed ! Judge 
Temple, the landlord and owner of a township, 
with Nathaniel Bumppo, a lawless squatter, and 


THE PIONEERS. 


353 


professed deer-killer, in order to preserve the game 
in the county ! But, ’duke, when I fish, t fish, 
and don’t play ; — so, away, boys, for another haul, 
and we’ll send out wagons and carts,' in the morn- 
ing, to bring in our prizes !” 

Marmaduke appeared to understand that all op- 
position to the will of the Sheriff would be useless, 
and he strolled from the fire to the place w here 
the canoe of the hunters lay, whither the ladies 
and Oliver Edwards had already preceded him. 

Curiosity induced the females to approach this 
spot, but it surely was a different motive that led 
the youth thither. Elizabeth examined the light 
ash timbers, and thin bark covering of the canoe, 
in admiration of its neat but simple execution, and 
with wonder that any human being could be so 
daring as to trust his life in so frail a vessel. But 
the youth explained to her the buoyant properties 
of the boat, and its perfect safety, when under 
proper management, adding, in such glowing terms, 
a description of the manner in which the fish were 
struck with the spear, that she changed suddenly, 
from an apprehension of the danger of the excur- 
sion, to a desire to participate in its pleasures. She 
even ventured a proposition to that effect to her 
father, laughing at the same time, at her own wish, 
and accusing herself of acting under a woman’s ca- 
price. 

u Say not so, Bess,” returned the Judge ; “ I 
would have you above the idle fears of a silly girl. 
These canoes are the safest kind of boats to those 
who have skill and steady nerves. I have crossed 
the broadest part of the Oneida in one much small- 
er than this.” 

“ And I the Ontary,” interrupted the Leather- 
stocking ; “ and that with squaws in the canoe, 
too. But the Delaware women he used to the 

30 * 


354 


THE PIONEERS. 


paddle, and are down good hands in. a boat of (his 
nater. If the young woman would like to see an 
old man strike a trout for his breakfast, she is wel- 
come to a. seat and a sight. John will say the 
same, seeing that he built the canoe, which was 
only launched yesterday ; for Pm not over curous 
at such small work as brooms, and basket-making, 
and other like Indian trades.” 

Natty gave the heiress one of his significant 
laughs, with a kind nod of his head, when he con- 
cluded this invitation ; but Mohegan, with the na- 
tive grace of an Indian, approached, and taking her 
soft white hand into his own swarthy and wrinkled 
palm, said — 

“ Come, grand-daughter of Miquon, and John 
will be glad. Trust the Indian : his head is old, 
though his hand is not steady. The young Eagle 
will go, and see that no harm hurts his sister.” 

“ Well, Mr. Edwards,” cried Elizabeth, blush- 
ing slightly, “ your friend, Mohegan, you see, has 
given a promise for you. Do you redeem the 
pledge ?” 

“ With my life, if necessary, Miss Temple,” 
cried the youth, with fervour. u The sight is 
worth some little apprehension, for of real dangei 
there is none. I will go with you and Miss Grant, 
however, to save appearances.” 

u With me !” exclaimed Louisa ; “ no, not with 
me, Mr. Edwards, nor surely do you mean to trust 
yourself in that slight canoe.” 

“ But I shall, for I have no apprehensions any 
longer,” said Elizabeth, stepping into the boat, and 
taking a seat where the Indian directed. “ Mr. 
Edw ards, you may remain, as three do seem to be 
enough for such an egg-shell.” 

“ It shall hold a fourth,” cried the young man, 
springing to her side, with a violence that nearly 


THE PIONEERS. 


355 


shook the weak fabric of the vessel asunder ; — 
u pardon me, Miss Temple, that I do not permit 
these venerable Charons to take you to the shades 
unattended by your genius.” 

u Is it a good or evil spirii ?” asked Elizabeth. 

“ Good to you.” 

u And mine,” added the maiden, with an air that 
strangely blended pique with satisfaction. But tin 1 
motion of the canoe gave rise to new ideas, and 
fortunately afforded a good excuse to the young 
man to change the discourse. 

It appeared to Elizabeth that they glided over 
the water by magic, so easy and graceful was the 
manner in which Mohegan guided his little bark. 
A slight gesture with his spear indicated the way 
in which the Leather-stocking wished to go, and a 
profound silence was preserved by the whole party, 
as a precaution necessary to the success of their 
fishery. The shore, at that point of the lake, ran 
gradually off, and the water shoaled regularly, dif- 
fering, in this particular, altogether, from those 
parts where the mountains rose, nearly in perpen- 
dicular precipices, from the beach. There, the 
largest vessels could have lain, with their yards 
locked in the branches of the pines ; while here, a 
scanty growth of rushes lifted their tops above the 
lake, gently curling the waters, as their bending 
heads slowly waved with the passing breath of the 
night air. It was at the shallow points, only, that 
the bass could be found, or the net cast with suc- 
cess. 

Elizabeth saw thousands of these fish swimming 
in shoals along the shallow and w T arm waters of the 
shore ; for the flaring light of their torch exposed 
all the mysteries of the lake, laying them open to 
the eye, with a slight variation in colour, as plainly 
as if the limpid sheet of the Otsego was but an 


THE PIONEERS. 


J5i> 

other atmosphere. Every instant she expected to 
see the impending spear of Leather-stocking dart- 
ing into the thronging hosts that were rushing be- 
neath her, where it would seem that a blow could 
not go amiss ; and where, as her father had already 
said, the prize that would be obtained was worthy 
of the notice of any epicure. But Natty had his 
peculiar habits, and, it would seem, his peculiar 
tastes also. His tall stature, and his erect posture, 
enabled him to see much further than those who, 
from motives of safety, were seated in the bottom 
of the canoe ; and he turned his head warily, in 
every direction, frequently bending his body for- 
ward, and straining his vision, as if desirous of pe- 
netrating the darkness in the water, that surround 
ed their boundary of light. At length his anxious 
scrutiny was rewarded with success, and, waving 
his spear from the shore, he said in a cautious 
tone — 

“ Send her outside the bass, John ; I see a laker 
there, that has run out of the school. It’s sildom 
one finds such a creater in the shallow waters, 
where a spear can touch it.” 

Mohegan gave a wave of assent with his hand, 
and in the next instant the canoe was without the 
“ run of the bass,” and in water of nearly twenty 
feet in depth. A few additional knots were laid 
on the grating, and the light from the fire made to 
reach the bottom. Elizabeth then saw a fish of 
unusual size, floating above the small pieces of logs 
and sticks that were lying on the bottom. The 
animal was only distinguishable, at that distance, 
by a slight, but almost imperceptible motion of its 
fins and tail. The curiosity excited by this unu- 
sual exposure of the secrets of the lake seemed to 
be mutual between the heiress of the land and the 
lord of these waters, for the u salmon-trout” soon 


THE PIONEERS. 


357 


announced his interest by raising his head and 
body, for a few degrees above a horizontal line, 
and then dropping them again into the position of 
nature. 

u Whist 1 whist !” said Natty, in a low voice, on 
hearing a slight sound made by Elizabeth, in bend- 
ing over the side of the canoe, in eager curiosity ; 
— u ’tis a skeary animal, and it’s a far stroke for a 
spear. My handle is but fourteen foot, and the 
Greater lies at a good eighteen from the top of the 
water ; but I’ll try him, for he’s a ten-pounder.” 

While speaking, the Leather-stocking was pois- 
ing and directing his weapon. Elizabeth saw the 
bright, polished tines, as they slowly and silently 
entered the water, where the refi action pointed 
them many degrees from the true direction to the 
fish ; and she thought that the intended victim saw 
them also, as he seemed to increase the play of his 
tail and fins, though without moving his station. At 
the next instant, the tall body of Natty bent to the 
water’s edge, and the handle of his spear disap- 
peared in the lake. The long, dark streak of the 
gliding weapon, and the little bubbling vortex, 
which followed its rapid flight, were easily to be 
seen ; but it was not until the handle shot again 
high into the air, by its own reaction, and its ma- 
ster, catching it in his hand, threw its tines upper- 
most, that Elizabeth was acquainted with the suc- 
cess of the blow. A fish of great size was trans- 
fixed by the barbed steel, and was very soon 
shaken from its impaled situation into the bottom 
of the canoe. 

“ That will do John,” said Natty, raising his 
prize by one of his fingers, and exhibiting it before 
the torch ; “ enough is as good as a feast : I shall 
uot strike another blow to-night ” 


358 


THE PIONEERS. 


The Indian again waved his hand, and replied 
with the simple and energetic monosyllable of — 

“ Good.” 

Elizabeth was awakened from the trance cre- 
ated by this scene, and by gazing in that unusual 
manner at the bottom of the lake, by the hoarse 
sounds of Benjamin’s voice, and the dashing of 
oars, as the heavier boat of the seine-drawers ap- 
proached the spot where the canoe lay, dragging 
after its toilsome way the folds of the net, which 
was already spreading on the water. 

“ Haul off, haul off, Master Bumppo,” cried 
Benjamin ; “ your top-light frightens the fish, who 
see the net and sheer off soundings. A fish knows 
as much as a horse, or, for that matter, more, see- 
ing that it’s brought up on the water. Haul off, 
Master Bumppo, haul off, I say, and give a wide 
birth to the seine.” 

Mohegan guided their little canoe to a point ■ 
where the movements of the fishermen could be 
observed, without interruption to the business, and 
then suffered it to lie quietly on the water, looking 
like an imaginary vessel floating in the air. There 
appeared to be much ill-humour among the party 
in the batteau, for the directions of Benjamin were 
not only frequent, but issued in a voice that par- 
took largely of the tones of dissatisfaction. 

u Pull larboard oar, will ye, Master Kirby,” cried 
the old seaman ; u Pull larboard best. It would 
puzzle the oldest admiral in the British fleet to 
cast this here net fair, with a wake like a cork 
screw. Pull starboard, boy, pull starboard oar, 
with a will.” 

u Harkee, Mister Pump,” said Kirby, ceasing 
to row, and speaking with some spirit ; “ I’m a 
man that likes civil language and decent treatment* 


THE PIONEERS. 


359 


such as is right ’twixt man and man. If you want 
us to go hoy, say so, and hoy I’ll go, for the bene- 
fit of the company ; but I’m not used to being or- 
dered about like dumb cattle.” 

u Who’s dumb cattle ?” echoed Benjamin, fierce- 
ly, turning his forbidding face to the glare of light 
from the canoe, and exhibiting every feature teem- 
ing with the expression of his disgust. “ If you 
want to come aft and cun the boat round, come 
and be damned, and a pretty steerage you’ll make 
of it too. There’s but another heave of the net in 
the stern-sheets, and we’re clear of the thing. 
Give way, will ye ? and shoot her ahead for a fa- 
thom or two, and if you catch me afloat again with 
such a horsemarine as yourself, why rate me a 
ship’s jackass, that’s all.” 

Probably encouraged by the prospect of a speedy 
termination to his labour, the wood-chopper re- 
sumed his oar, and, under the strong excitement 
of his feelings, gave a stroke with it, that not only 
cleared the boat of the net, but of the steward, at 
the same instant, also. Benjamin had stood on the 
little platform that held the seine, in the stern of 
the boat, and the violent whirl occasioned by the 
vigour of the wood-chopper’s arm, completely de- 
stroyed his balance. The position of the lights 
rendered objects in the batteau distinguishable, both 
from the canoe and the shore ; and the heavy fall 
on the water drew all eyes to the steward, as he 
lay struggling, for a moment, in sight. 

A loud burst of merriment, to which the lungs 
of Kirby contributed no small part, broke out like 
a chorus of laughter, and rung along the eastern 
mountain, in echoes, until it died away in distant, 
mocking mirth, among the rocks and woods. The 
body of the steward was seen slowly to disappear, 
-n wrs* expected ; but when the light waves, which 


300 


THE PIONEERS^ 


nad been laised by his fall, began to sink in calm- 
ness, and the water finally closed over his head, 
unbroken and still, a very different feeling pei- 
vaded the spectators. 

“ How fare you, Benjamin ?” shouted Richard 
from the shore. 

“ The dumb devil can’t swim a stroke !” ex- 
claimed Kirby, rising, and beginning to throw aside 
his clothes. 

“ Paddle up, Mohegan,” cried young Edwards, 
• c where the light will show us how he lies, and 
let me dive for the body.” 

“ Oh ! save him ! for God’s sake, save him !” 
exclaimed Elizabeth, bowing her head on the side 
of the canoe in horror. 

A powerful and dexterous sweep of Mohegan’s 
paddle sent the canoe directly ovei the spot 
where the steward had fallen, and a loud shout 
from the Leather-stocking announced that he saw 
the body. 

u Then steady the boat while I dive,” again 
cried Edwards. 

“ Gently, lad, gently,” said Natty ; cc I’ll spear 
the creater up in half the time, and no risk to 
any body.” 

The form of Benjamin was lying, about half way 
to the bottom, grasping with either hand the bot- 
toms of some broken rushes, by whose strength it 
was maintained in that position. The blood of 
Elizabeth curdled to her heart, as she saw the 
figure of a fellow creature thus extended under an 
immense sheet of water, apparently in motion, by 
the undulations of the dying waves, with its face 
and hands, viewed by that light, and through the 
medium of the fluid, already coloured with livid 
hues like death. 

At the same instant, she saw the shining tines 


I HE PIONEERS. 


301 


jf Natty’s spear approaching the motionless head 
of the sufferer, and entwining themselves, rapidly 
and dexterously, in the hairs of his queue and the 
cape of his coat. The body was now raised slowly, 
looking ghastly and grim, as its features turned up- 
ward to the light, and approached the surface. 
The arrival of the nostrils of Benjamin into theii 
own atmosphere, was announced by a breathing 
that would have done credit to a full grown por- 
poise. For a moment, Natty held the steward 
suspended, with his head just above the water, 
while his eyes slowly opened, and stared about 
him, as if he thought that he had reached a new 
and unexplored country. 

As all the parties acted and spoke together, 
much less time was consumed in the occurrence 
of these events, than in their narration. To bring 
the batteau to the end of the spear, and to raise 
the form of Benjamin from its liquid element into 
the boat, and for the whole party to gain the shore, 
and land, required but a minute. Kirby, aided by 
Richard, whose anxiety induced him to run into 
the water to meet his favourite assistant, carried 
the motionless steward up the bank, and seated 
him before the fire, where he was supported, while 
the Sheriff proceeded to order the most approved 
measures then in use, for the resuscitation of the 
drowned. 

“ Run, Billy,” he cried, “ to the village, and bring 
up the rum-hogshead that lies before the door; in 
which I am making vinegar in cold weather, and 
be quick, boy, don’t stay to empty the vinegar ; 
and stop at Mr. Le Quoi’s, and buy a paper of to- 
bacco and half-a-dozen pipes ; and ask Remarkable 
for some salt, and one of her flannel petticoats ; 
and ask Dr. Todd to send his lancet, and to come 
himself; and ha ! ’duke, what are you about ? 

31 


362 


THE iUOJNEERS. 


would you strangle a man who is full of water, by 
giving him rum ! Help me to open this hand, that I 
may pat it.” 

All this time Benjamin sat, with his muscles 
fixed, his mouth shut, and his hands clenching the 
rushes, which he had seized in the confusion of the 
moment, and which, as he held fast, like a true 
seaman, had been the means of preventing his body 
from rising again to the surface. His eyes, how- 
ever, were open, and stared wildly on the group 
about the fire, while his lungs were playing like a 
blacksmith’s bellows, as if to compensate them- 
selves for the minute of inaction to which they had 
been subjected. As he kept his lips compressed, 
with a most inveterate determination, the air was 
compelled to pass through his nostrils, and he ra- 
ther snorted than breathed, and in such a manner, 
that nothing but the excessive agitation of the 
Sheriff could at all justify his precipitous orders. 

The bottle, applied to the steward’s lips by Mar- 
maduke, acted like a charm. His mouth opened 
instinctively ; his hands dropped the rushes, and 
seized the black glass ; his eyes raised from their 
horizontal stare, to the heavens ; and the whole 
man was lost, for a moment, in a new sensation. 
Unhappily for the propensity of the steward, breath 
was as necessary after one of these draughts, as af- 
ter his submersion, and the time at length arrived 
when he was compelled to let go of the bottle. 

“ Why, Benjamin !” roared the Sheriff ; “ you 
amaze me ! for a man of your experience in drown- 
ings to act so foolishly ! just now, you were half 
full of water, and now you are” 

“ Full of grog,” interrupted the steward, his 
features settling down, with amazing flexibility, 
into their natural economy. “ But, d’ye see. 
Squire, I kept my hatches close, and it is but little 


THE PIONEERS. 


363 


water that ever gets into my scuttle-butt. Harkee 0 
Master Kirby ! I’ve followed the salt water for 
the better part of a man’s life, and have seen some 
navigation on the fresh ; but this here matter I will 
say in your favour, and that is, that you’re the 
awk’ardest green’un that .ever straddled a boat’s 
thwart. Them that likes you for a ship-mate, 
may sail with you and no thanks ; but dam’me if I 
even walk on the lake shore in your company 
For why ? you’d as lief drown a man as one ol 
them there fish ; not to throw a Christian creature 
so much as a rope’s end, when he was adrift, and 
no life-buoy in sight ! — Natty Bumppo, give us 
your fist. There’s them that says you’re an Jn- 
. dian, and a scalper, but you’ve sarved me a good 
turn, and you may set me down for a friend ; thof 
it would have been more ship-shape to lower the 
bight of a rope, or running bow line, below me, 
than to seize an old seaman by his head-lanyard ; 
but I suppose you are used to taking men by the 
hair, and seeing you did me good instead of harm 
thereby, why, it’s the same thing, d’ye see.” 

Marmaduke prevented any reply, and assuming 
the direction of matters, with a dignity and discre- 
tion that at once silenced all opposition from hi? 
cousin, Benjamin was despatched to the village by 
land, and the net was hauled to shore in such a 
manner that the fish, for once, escaped its meshes 
with impunity. 

The division of the spoils was made in the ordi- 
nary manner, by placing one of the party with his 
oack to the game, who declared the owner of each 
pile. Billy Kirby stretched his large frame on the 
grass, by the side of the fire, as a sentinel until 
morning, over the net and the fish ; and the re- 
mainder of the party embarked in the batteau, to 
return to the village. 


3(54 


THE PlONEEltb. 


The wood-chopper was seen broiling his suppe- 
on the coals, as they lost sight of the fire ; and 
when the boat approached the shore, the torch of 
Mohegan’s canoe was shining again under the 
gloom of the eastern mountain. Its motion ceasec 
suddenly ; a scattering of brands was exhibited in 
the air, and then all remained dark as the conjunc- 
tion of night, forests, and mountains, could render 
the scene. 

The thoughts of the heiress wandered from the 
youth, who was holding a canopy of shawls over 
herself and Louisa, to the hunter and the Indian 
warrior ; and she felt an awakening curiosity to 
v isit a hut, where men of such different habits and 
temperament w r ere drawn together, as if by one 
common impulse. 


CHAPTER XXV. 


Ceaso all this parlance about hills and dales ; 

None listen to thy scenes of boyish frolic, 

Fond dotard l with such tickled ears as thou dost ; 
Come ! to thy tale 

Duo 


Mr. Jones arose, on the following morning, with 
the sun, and ordering his own and Marmaduke’s 
steeds to be saddled, he proceeded, with a coun- 
tenance that was big with some business of unusual 
moment, to the apartment of the Judge. Thedooi 
was unfastened, and Richard entered, with the 
freedom that characterized not only the inter- 
course between the cousins but the ordinary man- 
ners of the Sheriff. 

“ Well, ’duke, to horse,” he cried, u and I will 
explain to you my meaning in the allusions I made 
last night. David says, in the Psalms — no, it was 
Solomon, but it w r as all in the family — Solomon 
said, there was a time for all things ; and in my 
humble opinion, a fishing party is not the moment 
for discussing important subjects — Ha ! why, what 
the devil ails you, Marmaduke? an’t you well ? 
let me feel your pulse : my grandfather, you 
know” — 

“ Quite well in the body, Richard,” interrupted 
the Judge, repulsing his cousin, who was about to 
assume the functions that properly belonged to Dr. 

31 * 


J6G 


THE PIONEERS. 


Todd ; “but ill at heart. [ received letters by the 
post of last night, after we returned from the point, 
and this among the number.” 

The Sheriff took the letter, hut without turning 
his eyes on the writing, for he was examining the 
appearance of the other with astonishment. From 
the face of his cousin, the gaze of Richard wander- 
ed to the table, which was covered with letters, 
packets, and newspapers ; then to the apartment, 
and all that it contained. On the bed there was 
the impression that had been made by a human 
form, but the coverings were unmoved, and every 
thing indicated that the occupant of the room had 
passed a sleepless night. The candles had burned 
to the sockets, and had evidently extinguished 
themselves in their own fragments. Marmaduke 
had drawn his curtains, and opened both the shut- 
ters and the sashes, to admit the balmy air of a 
spring morning ; but his pale cheek, his quivering 
lip, and his sunken eye, presented, altogether, so 
very different an appearance from the usual calm, 
manly, and cheerful aspect of the Judge, that the 
Sheriff grew each moment more and more bewil- 
dered with his astonishment. At length Richard 
found time to cast his eyes on the direction of the 
letter, which he still held unopened, crumbling it 
in his hand. 

“ What ! a ship-letter !” he exclaimed : “ and 
from England ! ha ! ’duke, here must be news of 
importance indeed !” 

“ Read it,” said Marmaduke, waving his hand 
for silence, and pacing the floor in excessive agi- 
tation. 

Richard, who commonly thought aloud, was un- 
able to read a letter without suffering part of its 
contents to escape him in audible sounds. So much 
of the epistle as was divulged in that manner, we 


THE PIONEERS. 


367 


shall lav before the reader, accompanied by the 
passing remarks of the Sheriff : — 

“ 4 London, February 12th, 1793.’ What a 
devil of a passage she had ! but the wind has been 
north-west for six weeks, until within the last fort- 
night. 

4 Sir, your favours of August 10th, September 
23d, and of December 1st, were received in due sea- 
son, and the first answered by return of packet. 
Since the receipt of the last, I’ — Here a long pas- 
sage was rendered indistinct, by a most significant 
kind of humming noise made by the Sheriff. 4 I 
grieve to say that 1 — hum, hum, bad enough to be 
sure — 4 but trust that a merciful Providence has 
seen fit’ — hum, hum, hum ; seems to be a good, 
pious sort of a man, ’duke ; belongs to the esta- 
blished church, I dare say ; hum, hum — 4 vessel 
sailed from Falmouth on or about the 1st Septem- 
ber of last year, and’ — hum, hum, hum. 4 If any 
thing should transpire on this afflicting subject, 
shall not fail’ — hum, hum ; really a good hearted 
man, for a lawyer, — 4 but can communicate nothing 
further at present’ — Hum, hum. 4 The national 
convention’ — hum, hum — 4 unfortunate Louis’ — 
hum, hum — 4 example of your Washington’ — a very 
sensible man, I declare, and none of your crazy 
democrats. Hum, hum — 4 our gallant navy’ — hum, 
hum — 4 under our most excellent monarch’ — ay, a 
good man enough, that king George, but bad ad- 
visers ; hum, hum — 4 1 beg to conclude with as- 
surances of my perfect respect’ — hum, hum — 4 An- 
drew Holt.’ Andrew H oit — a very sensible, feel- 
ing man, this Mr. Andrew Holt — but the writer of 
evil tidings. What will you do next, cousin Mar- 
maduke ?” 

44 What can I do, Richard, but trust to time and 
the will of Heaven ? Here is another letter, from 


368 


THE PIONEERS. 


Connecticut, but it only repeats the substance of 
the last. There is but one consoling reflection to 
oe gathered from the l^nglish news, which is, that 
my last letter was received by him before the ship 
sailed.” 

“ This is bad enough indeed ! ’duke, bad enough 
indeed ! and away go all my plans of putting wings 
to the house, to the devil. I had made my ar- 
rangements for a ride, to introduce you to some- 
thing of a very important nature. You know how 
much you think of mines” — 

“ Talk not of mines,” interrupted the Judge ; 
u there is a sacred duty to be performed, and that 
without delay. I must devote this day to writing ; 
and thou must be my assistant, Richard ; it will not 
do to employ Oliver in a matter of such secrecy 
and interest.” 

“ No, no, ’duke,” cried the Sheriff, squeezing his 
hand ; “ I am your man, just now ; we are sisters’ 
children, and blood, after all, is the best cement to 
make friendship stick together. Well, well, there 
is no hurry about the silve# mine, just now ; an- 
other time will do as well. We shall want Dirky 
Van, I suppose ?” 

Marmaduke assented to this indirect question, 
and the sheriff relinquished all his intentions on the 
subject of his ride, and repairing to the breakfast 
parlour, he despatched a messenger to require the 
immediate presence of Dirck Van der School. 

The village of Templeton, at that time, support- 
ed but two lawyers, one of whom was introduced 
to our readers in the bar-room of the u Bold Dra- 
goon,” and the' other was the gentleman of whom 
Richard spoke, by the friendly yet familiar appella- 
tion of Dirck, or Dirky Van. Great good-nature, a 
very tolerable share of skill in his profession, and, 
considering the circumstances, no contemptible de* 


THE PIONEERS. 


369 


gi ee of honesty, were the principal ingredients to he 
found in the character of this man, who was known 
to the settlers as Squire Vander School, and some- 
times by the flattering, though anomalous title of 
the “ Dutch,” or “ honest lawyer.” We would 
not wish to mislead our readers in their concep- 
tions of any of our characters, and we therefore 
feel it necessary to add, that the adjective, in the 
preceding agnomen of Mr. Van der School, was 
used in direct reference to its substantive. Our 
orthodox friends need not be told, that all merit in 
this w'orld is comparative ; and, once for all, we 
desire to say, that where any thing which involves 
qualities or character is asserted, we must be un- 
derstood to mean, “ under the circumstances.” 

During the remainder of the day, the Judge was 
closeted with his cousin and his lawyer ; and no 
one else was admitted to his apartment, excepting 
his daughter. The deep distress, that so evidently 
afflicted Marmaduke, was, in some measure, com 
municated to Elizabeth also ; for a look of dejec 
tion shaded her intelligent features, and the buoy 
ancy of her animated spirits was sensibly softened 
Once on that day, young Edwards, who was ^ 
wondering and observant spectator of the sudden 
alteration produced in the heads of the family, de- 
tected a tear stealing over the cheek of the heir- 
ess, and suffusing her bright eyes with a softness 
that did not always belong to their proud and 
laughing expression. 

u Have any evil tidings been received, Miss 
Temple ?” he inquired, with an interest and voice 
that caused Louisa Grant to raise her head from 
her needlework, with a quickness at which she 
mstantly blushed herself. “ I would offer my ser- 
vices to your father, if, as I suspect, he needs an 


370 


THE PIONEERS. 


agent in some distant place, and I thought it would 
give you relief.” 

“ We have certainly heard bad news,” returned 
Elizabeth, “ and it may be necessary that my fa- 
ther should leave his home for a short period ; un- 
less I can persuade him to trust my cousin Richard 
with the business, whose absence from the county 
just at this time, too, might be inexpedient.” 

The youth paused a moment, and the blood ga- 
thered slowdy to his temples, as he continued — 

“ If it be of a nature that I could execute — ” 
u It is such as can only be confided to one w^e 
know — one of ourselves.” 

tc Surely, you know me, Miss Temple !” he 
added, with a warmth that he seldom exhibited, 
but which did sometimes escape him, in the mo- 
ments of their frank communications — “ Have I 
lived five months under your roof, and yet a 
stranger ?” 

Elizabeth was engaged with her needle also, 
and she bent her head to one side, affecting to ar- 
range her muslin ; but her hand shook, her colour 
heightened, and her eyes lost their moisture in an 
expression of ungovernable interest, as she said — 
“ How much do we know of you, Mr. Ed- 
wards ?” 

“ How much !” echoed the youth, gazing from 
the speaker to the mild countenance of Louisa, that 
was also illuminated with awakened curiosity ; 
“ how T much ! have I been so long an inmate wdth 
you, and not known ?” 

The head of Elizabeth turned slowly from its 
affected position, and the look of confusion that 
had blended so strongly with an expression of in- 
terest changed to a smile of archness, as she an 
swered — 


THE PIONEERS, 


371 


“ We know you, sir, indeed : you are called Mr. 
Oliver Edwards. I understand that you have in- 
formed my friend, Miss Grant, that you are a. na- 
tive — ” 

u Elizabeth !” exclaimed Louisa, blushing to 
hei eyes, and trembling like an aspen ; “ you mis- 
understood me, dear Miss Temple ; I — I — it was 
only conjecture. Besides, if Mr. Edwards is re- 
lated to the natives, why should we reproach him t 
In what are we better ? at least I, who am the 
child of a poor and unsettled clergyman ?” 

Elizabeth shook her head, doubtingly, and even 
laughed, but made no reply, until, observing the 
melancholy which pervaded the countenance of 
her companion, who was thinking of the poverty 
and labours of her father, she continued — 

“ Nay, Louisa, your humility carries you too 
far. The daughter of a minister of the church can 
have no superiors. Neither I nor Mr. Edwards is 
quite your equal, unless,” she added, again smiling, 
“ he is in secret a king.” 

u A faithful servant of the King of kings, Miss 
Temple, is inferior to none on earth,” said Loui- 
sa ; u but his honours are his own ; I am only the 
child of a poor and friendless man, and can claim 
no other distinction. Why, then, should I feel 
myself elevated above Mr. Edwards, because — be- 
cause — perhaps he is only very, very distantly re- 
lated to John Mohegan ?” 

. Glances of a very comprehensive meaning were 
exchanged between the heiress and the young man. 
as Louisa betrayed, while vindicating his lineage, 
the reluctance with which she admitted his alli- 
ance to the old warrior ; but not even a smile at 
the simplicity of their companion .was indulged by 
either. 

cc On reflection, I must acknowledge that my 


372 


THE PIONEERS. 


situation here is somewhat equivocal,” said P.d- 
wards, “ though I may be said to have purchased 
it with my blood.” 

u The blood, too, of one of the native lords of 
the soil !” cried Elizabeth, whose melancholy had 
vanished in the excitemen / of their dialogue. 

“ Do I bear the marks of my lineage so very 
plainly impressed on my appearance ?” asked the 
youth, with a little pique in his manner. u I am 
dark, but not very red — not more so than com- 
mon ?” 

“ Rather more so, just now,” said the heiress. 

“ I am sure, Miss Temple,” cried Louisa, “you 
cannot have taken much notice of Mr. Edwards. 
His eyes are not so black as Mohegan’s, or even 
your own, nor is his hair !” 

“ Very possibly, then, I can lay claim to the 
same descent. It would be a great relief to my 
mind to think so, for I own that I grieve when I 
see old Mohegan walking about these lands, like 
the ghost of one of their ancient possessors, and 
feel liow small is my right to possess them.” 

“ Do you ?” cried the youth, with a vehemence 
that startled the ladies. 

“ I do, indeed,” returned Elizabeth, after suf 
fering a moment to pass in her surprise ; “ but 
what can I do ? what can my father do ? Should 
we offer the old man a home and a maintenance, 
his habits would compel him to xefuseus. Neither, 
were we so silly as to wish such a thing, could we 
convert these clearings and farms, again, into hunt- 
ing-grounds, as the Leather-stocking would wish 
to see them.” 

“ You speak the truth, Miss Temple,” said Ed- 
wards. “ What can you do, indeed ! But there 
is one thing that I am certain you can and w r ill do, 
when vou become the mistress of these beautiful 


THE PIONEERS. 


373 


valleys- use your wealth wfith indulgence to the 
poor and charity to the needy ; — indeed, you can 
do no more.” 

u And that will be doing a good deal,” said 
Louisa, smiling in her turn. “ But there will, 
doubtless, be one to take the direction of such 
things from her hands.” 

“ I am not about to disclaim matrimony,” cried 
the heiress, u like a silly girl, who dreams of no- 
thing else from morning till night ; but I am a nun, 
here, without the vow of celibacy. Where should 
I find a husband in these forests ?” 

“ There is none, Miss Temple,” said Edwards, 
quickly, u there is none who has a right to aspire 
to you, and I know that you will assert the dignity 
of your sex, and wait to be sought by your equal : 
or die, as you live, loved, respected, and admired, 
by all who know you.” 

The young man seemed to think that he had 
said all that was required by gallantry, for he arose, 
and taking his hat, hurried from the apartment 
Perhaps Louisa thought that he had said more than 
was necessary, for she sighed, with an aspiration 
so low that it was scarcely audible to heiself, and 
bent her head over her work again. And it is 
possible that Miss Temple wished to hear more, 
for her eyes continued fixed, for a minute, on the 
door through which the youth had passed, then 
glanced quickly towards her companion, when the 
long silence that succeeded manifested how much 
zest may be given to the conversation of two maid- 
ens under eighteen, by the presence of a youth ot 
three and twenty. 

The first person encountered by Mr. Edwaids, 
as he rather l ushed than walked from the house, 
was the little, square-built lawyer, with a large 
bundle of papers under his arm, a pair of green 

32 


374 


THE PIONEERS. 


spectacles on his nose, with glasses at the sides, as 
if to multiply his power of detecting frauds, by ad- 
ditional organs ol vision. 

Mr. Van der School was a well-educated man, 
but of a slow comprehension, who had imbibed a 
wanness in his speeches and actions, from having 
suffered by his collisions with his more mercurial 
and apt brethren who had laid the foundations of 
their practice in the eastern courts, and who had 
sucked in shrewdness with their mother’s milk. 
The caution of this gentleman was exhibited in his 
actions, by the utmost method and punctuality, 
tinctured with a good deal of timidity ; and in his 
speeches, by a parenthetical style, that frequently 
left to his auditors a most delightful research aftei 
his meaning. 

M A good morning to you, Mr. Van der School,” 
said Edwards ; “ it seems to be a busy day with 
us at the Mansion-house.” 

“ Good morning, Mr. Edwards, (if that is your 
name, (for, being a stranger, we have no other evi- 
dence of the fact than your own testimony,) as 1 
understand you have given it to Judge Temple,) 
good morning, sir. It is, apparently, a busy day, 
(but a man of your discretion need not be told, 
(having, doubtless, discovered it of your own ac- 
cord,) that appearances are often deceitful,) up at 
the Mansion-house.” 

“ Have you papers of consequence, that will re- 
quire copying ? can I be of assistance to you in any 
way ?” 

“ There are papers, (as doubtless, you see (for 
your eyes are young) by the outsides') that require 
copying.” 

“ Well, then I will accompany you to v our office, 
and receive such as are most needed, and by night 
1 shall have them done, if there be much haste.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


375 


“ 1 .shall be always glad to see you, sir, at ray 
office, (as in duty bound, (not that it is obligatory 
to receive any man within your dwelling, (unless 
so inclined,) which is a castle,) according to the 
forms of politeness, ) or at any other place ; but the 
papers are most strictly confidential, ( and as such, 
cannot be read by any one,) unless so directed 
( by Judge Temple’s solemn injunctions) and are in- 
visible to all eyes ; excepting those whose duties 
(I mean assumed duties) require it of them.” 

“ Well, sir, as I perceive that I can he of no ser- 
vice, ) wish you another good morning ; but beg 
you will remember, that I am quite idle, just now, 
and I wish you would intimate as much to Judge 
Temple, and make him a tender of my services, in 
any part of the world ; unless — unless — it be far 
from Templeton.” 

“ I will make the communication, sir, in youi 
name, (with your own qualifications,) as youi 
agent. Good morning, sir. — But stay proceedings, 
Mr. Edwards, (so called,) for a moment. Do you 
wish me to state the offer of travelling, as a final 
contract, (for which consideration has been re- 
ceived, at former dates, (by sums advanced,) 
which would be binding, ) or as a tender of services, 
for which compensation is to be paid ( according to 
future agreement between th£ parties) on per- 
formance of the conditions ?” 

u Any way — any way,” said Edwards — u he 
seems in distress, and I would assist him.” 

u The motiy r e is good, sir, (according to appear- 
ances, ( which are often deceitful, ) on first impres- 
sions,) and does you honour. 1 will mention your 
wish, young gentleman, (as you now seem,) and 
will not fail to communicate the answer by five 
o’clock, P. M. of this present day, (God willing,) 
/you give me an opportunity so to do ” 


376 


THE PIONEERS. 


The ambiguous nature of the situation and cha- 
racter of Mr. Edwards had rendered him an ob- 
ject of peculiar suspicion to the lawyer, and the 
youth was consequently too much accustomed to 
similar equivocal and guarded speeches, to feel 
any unusual disgust at the present dialogue. He 
saw, at once, that it was the intention of the prac- 
titioner to conceal the nature of his business, even 
from the private secretary of Judge Temple ; and 
he knew too well the difficulty of comprehending 
the meaning of Mr. Van der School, when the gen- 
tleman most wished to be luminous in his discourse, 
not to abandon all thoughts of a discovery, when 
he perceived that the attorney was endeavouring 
to avoid any thing like an approach to a cross exa- 
mination. They parted at the gate, the lawyer 
walking, with an important and hurried air, to- 
wards his office, keeping his right hand firmly 
clenched on the bundle of papers that his left arm 
pressed to his side with a kind of convulsive mo- 
tion. 

It must have been obvious to all our readers, 
that the youth entertained an unusual and deeply 
seated prejudice against the character of the Judge ; 
but, owning to some counteracting cause, his sensa- 
tions were now those of powerful interest in the 
state of his patron’s present feelings, and in the 
cause of his secret uneasiness. 

He remained gazing after the lawyer, until the 
door closed on both the bearer and the mysterious 
packet, when he returned slowly to the dwelling, 
and endeavoured to forget his curiosity, in the 
usual avocations of his office. 

When the Judge made his reappearance in the 
circles of his family, his cheerfulness was temper- 
ed by a shade of melancholy, that lingered for ma- 
ny days around his manly brow ; but the magical 


THU PIONEERS. 


311 

progression of the season aroused him from his 
temporary apathy, and his smiles returned with 
the animated looks of summer. 

The heats of the days, and the frequent occur- 
rence of balmy showers, had completed, in an in- 
credibly short period, the growth of plants, which 
the lingering spring had so long retarded in the 
germ ; and the woods presented every shade of 
green that the American forests know. The stumps 
in the cleared fields were already hid beneath the 
tops of the stalks of rich wheat that were waving 
with every breath of the summer air, shining, and 
changing their hues, like velvet. 

During the continuance of his cousin’s dejection, 
Mr. Jones forbore, with much consideration, to 
press on his attention a business that each hour 
was drawing nearer to the heart of the Sheriff, and 
which, if any opinion could be formed by his fre- 
quent private conferences with the man, who was 
introduced in these pages, by the name of Jotham, at 
the bar-room of the Bold Dragoon, was becoming 
also of great importance. 

At length the Sheriff ventured to allude again to 
the subject, and one evening, in the beginning of 
July, Marmaduke made him a promise of devoting 
the following day to the desired excursion. 

32 * 


CHAPTER XXVI. 


“ Speak on, my dearest father f 
Thy words are like the breezes of the west.” 

Milman. 


It was a mild and soft morning, when Mat mar 
duke and. Richard mounted their horses, to pro- 
ceed on the expedition that had so long been upper- 
most in the thoughts of the latter ; and Elizabeth 
and Louisa appeared at the same instant in the 
hall, attired for an excursion on foot. 

The head of Miss Grant was covered by a neat 
little hat of green silk, and her modest eyes peered 
from under its shade, wjth the soft languor that 
characterized her whole appearance ; but Miss 
Temple trod her father’s wide apartments with the 
step of their mistress, holding in her hand, dan- 
gling by one of its ribands, the gipsy that was to 
conceal the glossy locks that curled around her 
polished forehead, in rich profusion. 

u What, are you for a walk, Bess !” cried the 
Judge, suspending his movements for a moment, to 
smile, with a father’s fondness, at the display of 
womanly grace and beauty that his child presented. 
“ Remember the heats of July, my daughter ; nor 
venture further than thou canst retrace before the 
meridian. Where is thy parasol, girl ? thou wih 


THE PTONEERS. 


370 


lose the polish of thy brow, under this sun and 
southern breeze, unless thou guard it with unusual 
care.” 

“ I shall then do more honour to my connex- 
ions,” returned the smiling daughter. “ Cousin 
Richard has a bloom that any lady might envy. Al 
present the resemblance between us is so trilling, 
that no stranger would know us to be 1 sisters’ chil- 
dren.’ ” 

u Grand-children, you mean, cousin Bess,” said 
the Sheriff. u But on, Judge Temple ; time and 
tide wait for no man ; and if you take my counsel, 
sir, in twelve months from this day, you may make 
an umbrella for your daughter of her cainel’s-hair 
shawl, and have its frame of solid silver. I 
• ask nothing for myself, ’duke ; you have been a 
good friend to me already ; besides, all that I have 
will go to Bess, there, one of these melancholy 
days, so it’s as long as it’s short, where I or you 
leave it. But we have a day’s ride before us, sir ; 
so move forward, or dismount, and say you won’t 
go, at once.” 

“ Patience, patience, Dickon,” returned the 
Judge, checking his horse, and turning again to his 
daughter. u If thou art for the mountains, loVe, 
stray not too deep into the forest, I entreat thee ; 
for, though it is done often with impunity, there is 
sometimes danger.” 

“ Not at this season, I believe, sir,” said Eliza- 
jeth ; “ for, I will confess, it is the. intention of 
Louisa and myself to stroll among the hills.” 

“ Less at this season than in the winter, dear : 
but still there may be danger in venturing too far. 
But though thou art resolute, Elizabeth, thou art 
too much like thy mother not to be prudent.” 

The eyes of the parent turned reluctantly from 
the brilliant beauty of his child, and the Judge and 


380 


THE PIONEERS. 


Sheriff rode slowly through the gateway, and dis- 
appeared among the buildings of the village. 

During this short dialogue, young Edwards had 
stood, an attentive listener, holding in his hand a 
fishing-rod, the day and the season having tempted 
him also to desert the house, for the pleasure of 
exercise in the air. As the equestrians turned 
through the gate, he approached the young maid- 
ens, who were already moving on to the gravelled 
walk that led to the street, and was about to ad- 
dress them, as Louisa paused, and said quickly — 

“ Here is Mr. Edwards would speak to us, 
Elizabeth.” 

The other stopped also, and turned to the youth, 
politely, but with a slight coldness in her air, that 
sensibly checked the freedom with which the gen- • 
tleman had approached them. 

u Your father is not pleased that you should 
walk unattended in the hills, Miss Temple. If I 
might offer myself as a protector” — 

“ Does my father select Mr. Oliver Edwards as 
the organ of his displeasure ?” interrupted the lady. 

“ Good Heaven ! you misunderstood my mean- 
ing,” cried the youth ; “ I should have said uneasy, 
for not pleased. I am his servant, madam, and in 
consequence yours. I repeat that, with your con- 
sent, I will change my rod for a fowling piece, and 
keep nigh you on the mountain.” 

“ I thank you, Mr. Edwards,” returned Eliza- 
neth, suffering one of her fascinating smiles to chase 
the trifling frown from her features ; “ but where 
there is no danger, no protection is requiied. We 
are not yet, sir, reduced to wandering among these 
free hills accompanied by a body-guard. If such 
an one is necessary, there he is, however. — Here, 
Brave, — Brave — my noble Brave !” 

The huge mastiff that has been already mention- 


THE PIONEERS. 


381 


ed, appeared from his kennel, gaping and stretching 
himself, with a pampered laziness ; but as his mis- 
tress again called — “ Come, dear Brave ; once have 
you served your master well ; let us see how you 
can do your duty by his daughter” — the dog wag- 
ged his tail, as if he understood her language, walk- 
ed with a stately gait to her side, where he seated 
himself, and looked up at her face, with an intelli- 
gence but little inferior to that which beamed in 
her own lovely countenance. 

She resumed her walk, but again paused, after a 
few steps, and added, in tones of conciliation — 

u You can be serving us equally, and, I presume, 
more agreeably to yourself, Mr. Edwards, by bring- 
ing us a string of your favourite perch, for the din- 
ner-table.” 

When they again began to walk, Miss Temple 
did not look back to see how the youth bore this 
repulse ; but the head of Louisa was turned seve- 
ral times before they reached the gate, on that con- 
siderate errand. 

“ I am afraid, Elizabeth,” she said, “ that we 
have mortified Oliver. He is still standing where 
we left him, leaning on his rod. Perhaps he thinks 
us proud.” 

“ He thinks justly,” exclaimed Miss Temple, as 
if awaking from a deep musing ; “ he thinks justly, 
then. We are too proud to admit of such particu- 
lar attentions from a young man in an equivocal 
situation. What ! make him the companion of oui 
most private walks ! It is pride, Louisa, but it is 
the pride of a woman.” 

It was several minutes before Oliver aroused 
himself from the abstracted position in which he 
was standing when Louisa last saw him ; but when 
he did, he muttered something rapidly and inco- 
herently, and throwing his rod over his shoulder 


382 


THE PIONEERS. 


he strode down the walk, through the gate, ana 
along one cf the streets of the village, until he 
reached the lake-shore, with the air of an emperor. 
At this spot boats were kept for the use of Judge 
Temple and his family. The young man threw 
himself into a light skiff, and seizing the oars, he 
sent it across the lake towards the hut of Leather- 
stocking, with a pair of vigorous arms. By the 
time he had rowed a quarter of a mile, his reflec- 
tions were less bitter ; and when he saw the bushes 
that lined the shore in front of Natty’s habitation 
gliding by him, as if they possessed the motion 
which proceeded from his own efforts, he was quite 
cooled in mind, though somewhat heated in body. 
It is quite possible, that the very same reason which 
guided the conduct of Miss Temple, suggested it- 
self to a man of the breeding and education of the 
youth ; and it is very certain, that if such were the 
case, Elizabeth rose instead of falling in the esti- 
mation of Mr. Edwards. 

The oars were now raised from the water, and 
the boat shot close in to the land, where it lay gently 
agitated by waves of its own creating, while the 
young man, first casting a cautious and searching 
glance around him in every direction, put u small 
whistle to his mouth, and blew a long, shrill note, 
that rung far among the echoing rocks behind the 
hut. At this alarm, the hounds of Natty rushed 
out of their bark kennel, and commenced their long, 
piteous howls, leaping about as if half frantic, though 
restrained by the leashes of buck- skin, by which 
they were fastened. 

u Quiet, Hector, quiet,” said Oliver, again ap- 
plying his whistle to his mouth, and drawing out 
notes still more shrill than before. No reply was 
made, the dogs having returned to their kennel at 
the sounds of his voice. 


THE PIONEERS. 


383 


Edwards pulled the bows of the boat on to the 
shore, and landing, ascended the beach and ap- 
proached the door of the cabin. The fastenings 
were soon undone, and he entered, closing the 
door after him, when all was as silent, in that re- 
tired spot, as if the foot of man had never trod 
the wilderness. The sounds of the hammers, that 
were in incessant motion in the village, were faintly 
heard across the water ; but the dogs had crouched 
into their lairs, well satisfied that none but the pri- 
vileged had approached the forbidden ground. 

A quarter of an hour elapsed before the youth 
re-appeared, when he fastened the door again, and 
spoke kindly to the hounds. The dogs came out 
at the well-known tones, and the slut jumped upon 
his person, whining and barking, as if entreating 
Oliver to release her from her prison. But Old 
Hector raised his nose to the light current of aii, 
and opened a long howl, that might have been 
heard for a mile. 

“ Ha ! what do you scent, my old veteran of the 
woods ?” cried Edwards. “ If a beast, it is a bold 
one, and if a man, an impudent.” 

He sprung through the top of a pine that had 
fa^en near the side of the hut, and ascended a 
small hillock that sheltered the cabin to the south, 
where he caught a glimpse of the formal figure of 
Hiram Doolittle, as it vanished with an unusual ra- 
pidity for the architect, amid the trees and bushes. 

“ What can that fellow be wanting here ?” mut- 
tered Oliver. M He has no business in this quar- 
te‘r, unless it be his curiosity, which is an endemic 
in these woods. But against that 1 will effectually 
guard, though the dogs should take a liking to his 
ugly visage, and let him pass.” The youth re- 
turned to the door, while giving vent to this solilo- 
quy, and completed the fastenings, by placing a 


384 


THE PIONEERS. 


small chain through a staple, and securing it thei 
by a padlock. “ He is a pettifogger, and sure ^ 
must know that there is such a thing as feloniously 
breaking into a man’s house.” 

Apparently well satisfied with this arrangement / 
the youth again spoke to the hounds; and, de- 
scending to the shore, he launched his boat, and 
taking up his oars, pulled off into the lake. 

There were several places in the Otsego that 
were celebrated as fishing-ground for the perch. 
One was nearly opposite to the cabin, and another, 
still more famous, was near a point, at the distance 
of a mile and a half above it, under the brow of 
the mountain, and on the same side of the lake 
with the hut. Oliver Edwards pulled his little 
skiff over the first, and sat, for a minute, undecided 
whether to continue there, with his eyes on the 
door of the cabin, or to change his ground, with a 
view to get superior game. While gazing about 
him, he saw the light-coloured bark canoe of his 
old companions, riding on the water, at the point 
we have mentioned, and containing two figures 
that he at once knew to be Mohegan and the 
Leather-stocking. This decided the matter, and 
the youth pulled his little boat, in a very few m*- 
nutes, to the place where his friends were fishing, 
and fastened it to the light vessel of the Indian. 

The old men received Oliver with welcoming 
nods of their heads, but neither drew his line from 
he water, nor, in the least, varied his occupation. 
When Edwards had secured his own boat, he bait- 
ed his hook and threw it into the lake, without 
speaking. 

“ Did you stop at the wigwam, lad, as you row- 
ed by ?” asked Nattv. 

“ Yes, and I found all safe ; but that carpenter 
and justice of the peace, Mr. or, as they call him. 


THE PIONEERS. 


385 


Squire Doolittle, was prowling through the woods, 
nigh by. But I made sure of the door, before I 
left the hut, and I think he is too great a coward 
to approach the hounds.” 

“ There’s little to be said in favour of that man,” 
said Natty, while he drew in a perch and baited his 
hook. u He craves dreadfully to come into the 
cabin, and has as good as asked me as much to my 
face ; but 1 put him off with unsartain answers, so 
that he is no wiser than Solomon. This comes of 
having so many laws that such a man may be call- 
ed on to intarpret them.” 

u I fear he is more knave than fool,” cried Ed- 
wards ; “ I see that he makes a tool of that simple 
man, the Sheriff, and I dread that his impertinent 
curiosity may yet give us much trouble.” 

u If he harbours too much about the cabin, lad, 
I’ll shoot the creater,” said the Leather-stocking, 
quite coolly. 

u No, no, Natty, you must remember the law,” 
said Edwards, “ or we shall have you in trouble ; 
and that, old man, would be an evil day, and sore 
tidings to us all.” 

“ Would it, boy !” exclaimed the hunter, raising 
nis eyes with a look of friendly interest towards 
the youth. “ You have the true blood in your 
veins, Mr. Oliver, and I’ll support it, to the face 
of Judge Temple, or in any court in the country. 
How is it, John ? do I speak the true word ? is the 
lad staunch, and of the right blood ?” 

“ He is a Delaware,” said Mohegan, “ and my 
brother. The young Eagle is brave, and he will 
be a chief. No harm can come.” 

“ Well, well,” cried the youth, impatiently , 
“ say no more about it, my good friends ; if I am 
not all that your partiality would make me, I am 
33 


386 


THE PIONEERS. 


yours through life — in prosperity as in poverty. 
But now we will talk of other matters.” 

The old hunters yielded to his wish, which 
seemed to be their law. For a short time a pro- 
found silence prevailed, during which each man 
was very busy with his hook and line ; but Ed- 
wards, probably feeling that it remained with him 
to renew the discourse, soon observed, with the 
air of one who knew not what he said — 

u How beautifully tranquil and glassy the lake 
is. Saw you it ever more calm and even than at 
this moment, Natty ?” 

u 1 have known the Otsego water for five-and- 
forty years,” said Leather-stocking, “ and I will 
say that for it, which is, that a cleaner spring or a 
better fishing is not to be found in the land. Yes, 
yes — I had the place to myself once ; and a cheer- 
ful time I had of it. The game was as plenty as 
heart could wish, and there was none to meddle 
with the ground, unless there might have been a 
hunting party of the Delawares crossing the hills, 
or, maybe, a rifling scout of them thieves, the Iro- 
quois. There was one or two Frenchmen that 
squatted in the flats, further west, and married 
squaws ; and some of the Scotch- Irishers, from the 
Cherry Valley, would come on to the lake, and 
borrow my canoe, to take a mess of parch, or drop 
a line for a salmon-trout ; but, in the main, it was 
a cheerful place, and I had but little to disturb me 
in it. John would come, and John knows.” 

Mohegan turned his dark face, at this appeal, 
and, moving his hand forward with a graceful mo- 
tion of assent, he spoke, using the Delaware lan- 
guage — • 

“ The land was owned by my people ; we gave 
it to my brother, in council- -to the Fire-Eater , 


THE PIONEERS. 


387 


and what the Delawares give, lasts as long as the 
waters run. Hawk-eye smoked at that council, 
for we loved him.” 

“ No, no, John,” said Natty, “ I was no chief, 
seeing that I know’d nothing of scholarship, and 
had a white skin. But it was a comfortable hunt- 
ing-ground then, lad, and would have been so to 
this day, but for the money of Marmaduke Temple, 
and, maybe, the twisty ways of the law.” 

u It must have been a sight of melancholy plea- 
sure, indeed,” said Edwards, while his eye roved 
along the shores and over the hills, where the 
clearings, groaning with the golden corn, were 
cheering the forests with the signs of life, u to have 
roamed over these mountains, and along this sheet 
of beautiful water, without a living soul to speak 
to, or to thwart your humour.” 

u Haven’t I said it was a cheerful !” said Lea- 
ther-stocking. “ Yes, yes — when the trees begun 
to be kivered with th£ leaves, and the ice was out 
of the lake, it was a second paradise. I have tra- 
velled the woods for fifty-three years, and have 
made them my home for more than forty, and I car. 
say that I have met but one place that was more to 
my liking ; and that was only to eyesight, and not 
for hunting or fishing.” 

w And where was that ?” asked Edwards. 
u Where ! why up on the Cattskills. I used 
often to go up into the mountains after wolves’ 
skins, and bears ; once they bought me to get them 
a stuffed painter ; and so I often went. There’s a 
place in them hills that I used to climb to when I 
wanted to see the carryings on of the world, that 
would well pay any man for a barked shin or a torn 
moccasin. You know the Cattskills, lad, for you 
must have seen them on your left, as you followed 
the river up from York, looking as blue as a piece 


388 


THE PIOJVEERS. 


uf clear sky, and holding the clouds on their tops, 
as the smoke curls over the head of an Indian chief 
c’t a council fire. Well, there’s the High-peak and 
the Round-top, which lay back, like a father and 
mother among their children, seeing they are fai 
above all the other hills. But the place I mean is 
next to the river, where one of the ridges juts out 
a little from the rest, and where the rocks fall for 
the best part of a thousand feet, so much up and 
down, that a man standing on their edges is fool 
enough to think he can jump from top to bottom.” 

u What see you when you get there ?” asked 
Edwards. 

u Creation !” said Natty, dropping the end of his 
rod into the water, and sweeping one hand around 
him in a circle — u all creation, lad. I was on that 
hill when Vaughan burnt ’Sopus, in the last war, 
and I seen the vessels come out of the Highlands 
as plain as I can see that lime-scow rowing into the 
Susquehanna, though one was twenty times further 
from me than the other. The river was in sight 
for seventy miles, under my feet, looking like a 
curled shaving, though it was eight long miles to 
its banks. I saw the hills in the Hampshire grants, 
the high lands of the river, and all that God had 
done or man could do, as far as eye could reach 
— you know that the Indians named me for my 
sight, lad — and from the flat on the top of that 
mountain, I have often found the place where Al- 
bany stands ; and as for ’Sopus ! the day the royal 
troops burnt the town, the smoke seemed so nigh, 
that I thought I could hear the screeches of the 
women.” 

u It must have been worth the toil, to meet with 
such a glorious view !” 

“ If being the best part of a mile in the air, and 
having men’s farms and housen at your feet, with 


THE PIONEERS. 


3S0 


rivers looking like noa^fls, and mountains biggei 
than the ‘ Vision,’ seeming to be haystacks of 
green grass under you, gives any satisfaction to a 
man, I can recommend the spot. When I first 
come into the woods to live, I used to have weak 
spells, and I felt lonesome ; and then I would go 
into the Cattskills and spend a few days on that 
hill, to look at the ways of man ; but it’s now many 
a year since I felt any such longings, and I’m get- 
ting too old for them rugged rocks. But there’s a 
place, a short two miles back of that very hill, that 
in late times I relished better than the mountain ; 
for it was more kivered with the trees, and more 
nateral.” 

u And where was that ?” inquired Edwards., 
whose curiosity was strongly excited by the simple 
description of the hunter. 

“ Why, there’s a fall in the hills, where the wa- 
ter of two little ponds that lie near each other 
breaks out of their bounds, and runs over the rocks 
into the valley. The stream is, maybe, such a 
one as would turn a mill, if so useless a thing was 
wanted in the wilderness. But the hand that made 
that c Leap’ never made a mill ! There the water 
comes crooking and winding among the rocks, first 
so slow that a trout could swim in it, and then start- 
ing and running just like any creater that wanted 
to make a far spring, till it gets to wher the moun 
tain divides, like the cleft hoof of a deer, leaving a 
deep hollow for the brook to tumble into. The 
first pitch is nigh two hundred feet, and the water 
looks like flakes of driven snow, afore it touches 
the bottom ; and there the stream gathers itself to- 
gether again for a new start, and maybe flutters 
over fifty feet of flat-rock, before it falls for another 
hundred, when it jumps about from shelf to shell, 
first turning this-away and then turning that-awny 
33 * 


300 


THE PIONEERS. 


striving to get out of the hollow, till it finally comes 
to the plain.” 

u I have never heard of this spot before !” ex- 
claimed Edwards ; “ it is not mentioned in the 
books.” 

“ I never read a book in my life,” said Leather 
stocking ; “ and how should a man who has lived 
in towns and schools know any thing about the 
wonders of the woods ! No, no, lad ; there has that 
little stream of water been playing among them 
hills, since He made the world, and not a dozen 
white men have ever laid eyes on it. The rock 
sweeps like mason-work, in a half-round, on both 
sides of the fall, and shelves over the bottom for 
fifty feet ; so that when I’ve been sitting at the 
foot of the first pitch, and my hounds have run into 
the caverns behind the sheet of water, they’ve 
looked no bigger than so many rabbits. To my 
judgment, lad, it’s the best piece of work that I’ve 
met with in the woods ; and none know how often 
the hand of God is seen in a wilderness, but them 
that rove it for a man’s life.” 

“ What becomes of the water ? in which direc- 
tion does it run ? Is it a tributary of the Delaware ?” 

“ Anan !” said Natty. 

“ Does the water run into the Delaware ?” 

“ No, no, it’s a drop for the old Hudson ; and a 
merry time it has till it gets down off the moun- 
tain. I’ve sat on the shelving rock many a long 
hour, boy, and watched the bubbles as they shot 
by me, and thought how long it would be before 
that very water, which seemed made for the wil- 
derness, would be under the bottom of a vessel, 
and tossing in the salt sea. It is a spot to make 
a man solemnize. You can see right down into 
the valley that lies to the east ol the High-Peak, 
where, in the fall of the year, thousand? of acres 


THE PIONEERS. 


391 


of woods are before your eyes, in the deep hollow, 
and along the side of the mountain, painted like 
ten thousand rainbows, by no hand of man, though 
without the ordering of God’s providence.” 

“ Why, you are eloquent, Leather-stocking,” ex- 
claimed the youth. 

“ Anan !” repeated Natty. 

u The recollection of the sight has warmed your 
blood, old man. How many years is it since you 
saw the place ?” 

The hunter made no reply; but, bending his ear 
near to the water, he sat for a minute holding his 
breath, and listening attentively as if to some dis- 
tant sound. At length he raised his head, and 
said — 

u If I hadn’t fastened the hounds with my own 
hands, with a fresh leash of green buck-skin, I’d 
take a Bible oath that I heard old Hector ringing 
his cry on the mountain.” 

u It is impossible,” said Edwards, “ It is not an 
hour since I saw him in his kennel.” 

By this time the attention of Mohegan w^as at- 
tracted to the sounds ; but, notwithstanding the 
youth was both silent and attentive, he could hear 
nothing but the lowing of some cattle from the 
western hills. He looked at the old men, Natty 
sitting with his hand to his ear, like a trumpet, and 
Mohegan bending forward, with his arm raised to 
a level with his face, holding the fcre-finger ele- 
vated as a signal for attention, and laughed aloud 
at what he deemed to be their imaginary sounds. 

u Laugh if you will, boy,” said Leather-stock- 
ing, u the hounds be out, and are hunting a deer. 
No man can deceive me in such a manner. I 
wouldn’t have had the thing happen for a beaver’s 
skin. Not that I care for the law ! but the veni- 
son is lean now, and the dumb things run the flesh 


392 


THE PIONEERS. 


off their bones for no good. Now do you heax 
the hounds ?” 

Edwards started, as a full cry broke on his ear, 
changing from the distant sounds that were caused 
by some intervening hill, to the confused echoes 
that rung among the rocks that the dogs w^ere 
passing, and then directly to a deep and hollow 
baying that pealed under the forest on the lake 
shore. These variations in the tones of the hounds 
passed with amazing rapidity, and while his eyes 
were glancing along the margin of the water, a 
tearing of the branches of the alder and dog-wood 
caught his attention, at a spot near them, and at the 
next moment a noble buck sprung on the shore, 
and buried himself in the lake. A full-mouthed 
cry, directly from the lungs of the hounds, follow- 
ed, when Hector and the slut shot through the 
opening in the bushes, and darted into the lake 
also, bearing their breasts most gallantly to the 
w r ater. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 


“ Oft in the full descending flooa he tries 
To lose the scent, and lave his burning sides.” 

Thomson 


1 know’d it — I know’d it !” cried Natty, when 
both deer and hounds were in full view ; — “ the 
buck has gone by them with the wind, and it has 
been too much for the poor rogues ; but I must 
break them of these tricks, or they’ll give me a’ 
deal of trouble. He-ere, he-ere — shore with you, 
rascals — shore with you — will ye ? — Oh ! off with 
you, old Hector, or I’ll hatchel your hide with my 
ramrod when I get ye.” 

The dogs knew their master’s voice, and after 
swimming in a circle, as if reluctant to give over 
the chase, and yet afraid to persevere, they finally 
obeyed, and returned to the land, where they fill- 
ed the air with their howlings and cries. 

In the mean time the deer, urged by his fears, 
had swam over half the distance between the shore 
and the boats, before his terror permitted him to 
see the new danger. But at the sounds of Natty’s 
voice, he turned short in his course, and for a few 
moments seemed about to rush back again, and 
brave the dogs. His retreat in this direction was. 
however, effectually cut off, and turning a second 
time, he urged his course obliquely for the centre 
of the lake, with an intention of landing c*i the 


THE PIONEERS. 


394 

western shore. As the buck swam by the fisher- 
men, raising his nose high into the air, curling the 
water before his slim neck like the beak of a gal- 
ley, throwing his legs forward, and gliding along 
with incredible velocity, the Leather-stocking be- 
gan to sit very uneasy in his canoe. 

“ ’Tis a noble creater !” he exclaimed ; u what a 
pair of horns ! a man might hang up all his gar- 
ments on the branches. Let me see — July is the 
last month, and the flesh must be getting good.” 
While he was talking, Natty had instinctively em- 
ployed himself in fastening the inner end of the 
bark rope, that served him for a cable, to a pad- 
dle, and, rising suddenly on his legs, he cast this 
buoy away from him, and cried — “ Strike out, 
John ! let her go. The creater’s a fool to tempt a 
man in this way.” 

Mohegan threw the fastening of the youth’s boat 
off the canoe, and with one stroke of his paddle 
sent the light bark over the water like a meteor. 

“ Hold !” exclaimed Edwards. “ Remember the 
law, my old friends. You are in plain sight of the 
village, and I know that Judge Temple is deter- 
mined to prosecute all, indiscriminately, who kill 
the deer out of season.” 

But the remonstrance came too late : the canoe 
was already far from the skiff, and the two hunters 
too much engaged in their pursuit to listen to his 
voice. 

The buck was now within fifty yards of his pur- 
suers, cutting the water most gallantly, and snort- 
ing at each breath with his terror and Lis exertions, 
while the canoe seemed to dance over the waves, 
as it rose and fell with the undulations made by 
its own motion. Leather-stocking raised his rifle 
and freshened the priming, but stood in suspense 
whether to slay his victim or not. 


THE PIONEERS. 


395 


“ Shall I, John, or no ?” he said. u It seems but 
a poor advantage to take of the dumb thing too. I 
won’t ; it has taken to the water on its own nater, 
which is the reason that God has given to a deer, 
and I’ll give it the lake play ; so, John, lay out 
your arm, and mind the turn of the buck ; its easy 
to catch them, but they’ll turn like a snake.” 

The Indian laughed at the conceit of his friend, 
but continued to send the canoe forward with a ve- 
locity that proceeded much more from his skill 
than his strength. Both of the old men now used 
the language of the Delawares when they spoke. 

“ Hooh !” exclaimed Mohegan ; “ the deer turns 
his head. Hawk-eye, lift your spear.” 

Natty never moved abroad without taking with 
him every implement that might, by possibility, be 
of service in his pursuits. From his rifle he never 
parted ; and although intending to fish with the 
line, the canoe was invariably furnished with all ol 
its utensils, even to its grate. This precaution 
grew out of the habits of the hunter, who was often 
led, by his necessities or his sports, far beyond the 
limits of his original destination. A few years ear 
lier than the date of our tale, the Leather-stocking 
had left his hut on the shores of the Otsego, with 
his rifle and his hounds, for a few days’ hunting 
in the hills ; but before he returned he had seen 
the waters of the Ontario. One, two, or even 
three hundred miles had once been nothing to his 
sinews, which were now a little stiffened by age. 
The hunter did as Mohegan advised, and prepared 
to strike a blow with the barbed weapon into the 
neck of the buck. 

“ Lay her more to the left, John,” he cried, u lay 
her more to the left ; another stroke of the paddle, 
and I have him.” 

While speaking, he raised the spear, and darted 


THE PIONEERS. 


BOO 

it from him like an arrow. At that instant the buck 
turned, the long pole glanced by him, the iron 
striking against his horn, and buried itself, harm- 
lessly, in the lake. 

u Back water,” cried Natty, as the canoe glided 
over the place where the spear had fallen, “ hold 
water, John.” 

The pole soon reappeared, shooting upward from 
the lake, and as the hunter seized it in his hand, 
the Indian whirled the light canoe round, where it 
lay, and renewed the chase. But this evolution 
gave the buck a great advantage ; and it also allow- 
ed time for Edwards to approach the scene of ac- 
tion. 

“ Hold your hand, Natty,” cried the youth, 
“ hold your hand ; remember it is out of season.” 

This remonstrance was made as the batteau ai- 
rived close to where the deer was struggling with 
the water, his back now rising to the surface, now 
sinking beneath it, as the waves curled from his 
neck, the animal sustaining itself nobly against the 
odds. 

“ Hurrah !” shouted Edwards, inflamed beyond 
prudence at the sight ; “ mind him as he doubles^- 
mind him as he doubles ; sheer more to the right. 
Mohegan, more to the right, and I’ll have him by 
the horns ; I’ll throw the rope over his antlers.” 

The dark eye of the old warrior was dancing in 
his head, with a wild animation, as bright and natu- 
ral as the rays that shot from the -glancing eyes of 
the terrified deer himself, and the sluggish repose 
in which his aged frame had been resting in the 
canoe, was now changed to all the rapid inflections 
of practised agility. The canoe whirled with each 
cunning evolution of the chase, like a bubble float- 
ing in a whirlpool ; and when the direction of the 
pursuit admitted, for a short distance, of a straight 


THE PIONEERS. 


397 


course, the little bark skimmed the lake with a ve 
loci ty that urged the deer to seek its safety in some 
new and unexpected turn. It was the frequency 
of these circuitous movements, that, by confining 
the action to so small a compass, enabled the youth 
to keep near his companions. More than twenty 
times both the pursued and the pursuers glided by 
him, just without the reach of his oars, until he 
thought the best way to view the sport was to re- 
main stationary, and, by watching a favourable op- 
portunity, assist as much as he could in taking their 
intended victim. 

He was not required to wait long, for no soonei 
had he adopted this resolution, and risen in the 
boat, than he saw the deer coming bravely towards 
him, with an apparent intention of pushing for a 
point of land at some distance from the hounds, 
who were still barking and howling on the shore. 
Edwards caught the painter of his skiff, and, mak- 
ing a noose, cast it from him with all his force, 
and luckily succeeded in drawing its knot close 
around one of the antlers of the buck. 

For one instant, the skiff was drawn through the 
water, but in the next, the canoe glided before it, 
and Natty, bending low, passed his knife across the 
throat of the animal, whose blood followed the 
wound, dying the waters for many feet. The short 
time that was passed in the last struggles of the 
animal was spent by the hunters in bringing their 
boats together, and securing them in that position, 
when Leather- stocking drew the deer from the 
water, and laid its lifeless form in the bottom of the 
canoe. He placed his hands on the ribs, and or; 
different parts of the body of his prize, and then, 
raising his head, he laughed in his peculiar man- 
ner, saying — 

“ So much for Marmaduke Temple ? s law ] Thip 

34 


398 


THE PIONEERS. 


warms a body’s'blood,oid John ; I havn’t killed a 
buck in the lake afore this, ’sin this many a year. 
I call that good venison, lad ; and 1 know them that 
will relish the creater’s steaks, for all the better- 
ments in the land.” 

The Indian had long been drooping with his 
years, and perhaps under the calamities of his race, 
but this invigorating and exciting sport had caused a 
gleam of sunshine to cross his swarthy face that had 
long been absent from his features. It was evident 
that the old man enjoyed the chase more as a me 
morial of his youthful sports and deeds, than with 
any expectation of profiting by the success. He 
felt the deer, however, lightly, his hand already 
trembling with the reaction of his unusual exer- 
tions, and smiled wdth a nod of approbation, as he 
said, in the emphatic and sententious manner of 
his people — 

“ Good.” 

“ I am afraid, Natty,” said Edwards, when the 
heat of the moment had passed, and his blood be- 
gan to cool, “ that we have all been equally trans- 
gressors of the law. But keep your own counsel, 
and there are none here to betray us. Yet, how 
came those dogs at large ?” I left them securely 
fastened, I know, for I felt the thongs, and examin- 
ed the knots, when I was at the hut.” 

“ It has been too much for the poor things,” said 
Natty, “ to have such a buck take the wind of them, 
See, lad, the pieces of the buck-skin are hanging 
from their necks yet. Let us paddle up, John, and 
1 will call them in, and "look a little into the mat- 
ter.” 

When the old hunter lane 1 cdj c-iid examined the 
thongs that were yet fast to the hounds, his coun 
tenance sensibly changed, and he shook his head 
doubtingly.. 


THE PIONEERS. 


399 


u Heie has been a knife at work,” he said — 
u this skin was never torn, nor is this the mark of 
a hound’s tooth. No, no*— Hector is not in fault, 
as I feared.” 

u Has the leather been cut ?” cried Edwards. 

“ No, no — I didn’t say it had been cut, lad ; bul 
this is a mark that was never made by a jump or a 
bite.” 

“ Could that rascally carpenter have dared !” 
exclaimed the impetuous youth. 

“ Ay ! he durst to do any thing, where there is 
no danger,” said Natty ; u he is a curious body, and 
ioves tu be helping other people on with their con- 
sarns. But he had best not harbour so much near 
the wigwam !” 

In the mean time, Mohegan had been examin- 
ing, with an Indian’s sagacity, the place where the 
leather thong had been separated. After scrutinis- 
ing it closely, he said, in Delaware — 

“ It was cut with a knife — a sharp blade and a 
long handle — and the man was afraid of the dogs.” 

“ How is this, Mohegan ?” exclaimed Edwards : 
vt You saw it not ! how can you know these facts ?” 

“ Listen, son,” said the warrior. “ The knife 
was sharp, for the cut is smooth ; — the handle was 
long, for a man’s arm would not reach from this 
gash to that cut that did not go through the skin ; — 
he was a coward, or he would have cut the thongs 
around the necks of the hounds.” 

“ On my life,” cried Natty, “ John is on the 
scent ! It was that carpenter ; and he has got on 
the rock back of the kennel, and let the dogs loose 
by fastening his knife to a stick. It would be an 
easy matter to do it, when a man is so minded.” 

“ And why should he do so ?” asked Edwards ; 
* who has don$ him wrong, that he should trouble 
two old men like you ?” 


400 


THE PIONEERS. 


“ It’s a hard matter, lad, to know men’s ways, I 
find, since the settlers have brought in their new 
fashions. But is there ribthing to be found out in 
this place ? and maybe he is troubled with his long- 
ings after other people’s business, as he often is.” 

“ Your suspicions are just,” cried the youth, 
“ Give me the canoe : I am young and strong, and 
will get down there yet, perhaps, in time to inter- 
rupt his plans. Heaven forbid, that we should be 
at the mercy of such a man !” 

His proposal was instantly accepted, the deer 
being placed in the skiff in order to lighten the ca 
noe, and in less than five minutes the little vessel 
of bark was gliding over the glassy lake, and was 
soon hid by the points of land, as it shot close 
along the shore. 

Mohegan followed slowly with the skiff, while 
Natty called his hounds to him, bade them keep 
close, and, shouldering his rifle, he ascended *he 
mountain, with an intention of going to the hu Sy 
land . 


CHAPTER XXV HI 


“ Ask rao not what the maiden feel* 

Left in that dreadful hour alone ; 
Perchance, her reason stoops, or reels 
Perchance, a courage not her own, 

Braces her mind to desperate tone ** 

Scott 


While the chase was occurring on the lake 
Miss Temple and her companion pursued their 
walk with the activity of youth. Male attendants, 
on such excursions, were thought to be altogether un- 
necessary, for none were ever known, there, to offer 
an insult to a female who respected the dignity of 
her own sex. After the embarrassment, that had 
been created by their parting discourse with Ed- 
wards, had dissipated itself, the girls maintained a 
conversation that was as innocent and cheerful as 
themselves. 

The path they had taken led them but a short 
distance above the hut of Leather-stocking, and 
there was a point in the road which commanded a 
birds-eye view of the sequestered spot. 

From a feeling, that might have been natural, 
but must have been powerful, neither of the maid- 
ens, in their frequent and confidential dialogues, 
had ever trusted herself to utter one syllable con- 
cerning the equivocal situation in which the young 
man, who was now so intimately associated with 
th^m, had been found. If Judge Temple had deem- 
ed it prudent to make any inquiries on the subject, 
34 * 


402 


THE PIONEERS. 


he had also thought it proper to keep the answers 
to himself ; though it was so common an occur- 
rence to find the well-educated youth of the east- 
ern states in every stage of their career to wealth, 
that the simple circumstance of his intelligence, 
connected with his poverty, would not, at that day, 
and m that country, have excited any very power- 
ful curiosity. With his breeding, it might have 
been different ; but the youth himself had so ef- 
fectually guarded against any surprise on this sub- 
ject, by his cold, and even in some cases, rude de- 
portment, that when his manners seemed to soften 
by time, the Judge, if he thought about it at all, 
would have been most likely to imagine that the 
improvement was the result of his late association. 
But women are always more alive to such subjects 
than men ; and what the abstraction of the father 
had overlooked, the observation of the daughter 
had easily detected. In the thousand little courte- 
sies of polished life, she had early discovered that 
Edwards was not wanting, though his gentleness 
was so often crossed by marks of what she con- 
ceived to be fierce and uncontrollable passions. It 
may, perhaps, be unnecessary to tell the reader 
that Louisa Grant never reasoned so much after 
the fashions of the world. The gentle girl, how- 
ever, had her own thoughts on the subject, and, 
like others, she drew her own conclusions. 

“ I would give all my other secrets, Louisa,” ex 
claimed Miss Temple, laughing, and shaking back 
her dark locks, with a look of childish simplicity 
that her intelligent face seldom expressed, “ to be 
mistress of all that those rude logs have heard and 
witnessed.” 

They were both looking at the secluded hut, at 
the instant, and Miss Grant raised her mild eyes, 
as she answered — 


THE PIONEERS. 


403 


“ I am sure they would tell nothing to the dis- 
advantage of Mr. Edwards.” 

“ Perhaps not ; but they might tell who he is.” 

“ Why, dear Miss Temple, we know all thai 
already,” returned the other ; u I have heard it all 
very rationally explained by your cousin — ” 

“ The executive chief!” interrupted Elizabeth 
— “ yes, yes, he can explain any thing. His inge- 
nuity will one day discover the philosopher’s stone. 
But what did he say ?” 

u Say !” echoed Louisa, with a look of surprise ; 
u why every thing that seemed to me to be satis- 
factory ; and I have believed it to be true. He 
said that Natty Bumppo had lived most of his life 
in the woods, and among the Indians, by which 
means he had formed an acquaintance with old 
John, the Delaware chief.” 

“ Indeed ! that was quite a matter of fact tale 
for cousin Dickon. What came next ?” 

“ I believe he accounted for their close intimacy, 
by some story about the Leather-stocking saving 
the life of John in a battle.” 

“ Nothing more likely,” said Elizabeth, a little 
impatiently ; “ but what is all this to the pur- 
pose ?” 

“ Nay, Elizabeth, you must bear with my igno- 
rance, and I will repeat all that I remember to have 
overheard ; for the dialogue was between my fa- 
ther and the Sheriff, so lately as the last time they 
met. He then added, that the kings of England 
used to keep gentlemen as agents among the dif- 
ferent tribes of Indians, and sometimes officers in 
the army, who frequently passed half their lives on 
the edge of the wilderness.” 

u Told with a wonderful historical accuracy ! 
And did he end there 5 ” 

“ Oh ! no — then he said that these agents sel- 


404 


THE PIONEERS. 


dom married ; and — and — they must ha ye been 
wicked men, Elizabeth ! but then he said — that — 
that — ” 

“ Never mind,” said Miss Temple, blushing and 
smiling, though so slightly that both were unheed- 
ed by her companion — “ skip all that.” 

“ Well, then he said that they often took great 
pride in the education of their children, whom they 
frequently sent to England, and even to the col- 
leges ; and this is the way that he accounts for the 
liberal manner in which Mr. Edwards has been 
taught ; for he acknowledges that he knows almost 
as much as himself, or your father — or even mine.” 

“ Quite a climax in learning !” cried the heir- 
ess — “ commencing with the last, I suppose. And 
so he made Mohegan the grand uncle or grandfa- 
ther of Oliver Edwards.” 

“You have heard him yourself, then?” said 
Louisa. 

“ Often ; but not on this subject. Mr. Richard 
Jones, you know, dear, has a theory for every 
thing ; but has he one which will explain the rea- 
son why that hut is the only habitation within fifty 
miles of us, whose door is not open to every per- 
son that may choose to lift its latch ?” 

“ I have never heard him say any thing on this 
subject,” returned the clergyman’s daughter ; “ but 
I suppose that, as they are poor, they very natu- 
rally are anxious to keep the little that they ho- 
nestly own. It is sometimes dangerous to be rich, 
Miss Temple ; but you cannot know how hard it 
is to be very, very poor.” 

“ Nor you neither, I trust, Louisa ; at least 1 
should hope, that in this land of abundance, no mi- 
nister of the church could be left to absolute suf- 
fering.” 

“ There cannot be actual misery,” returned the 


THE PIOJVEERS. 


405 


other, in a low and humble tone, “ where the e is 
a dependence on our Maker ; but there may be 
such suffering as will cause the heart to ache.” 

But not you — not you,” said the impetuous 
Elizabeth — u not you, dear girl ; you have never 
known the misery that is connected with poverty.” 

tv Ah ! Miss Temple, you little understand the 
troubles of this life, I believe. My father has 
spent many years as a missionary, in the new 
countries, where his people were poor, and fre- 
quently we have been without bread ; unable to 
buy, and ashamed to beg, because we would not 
disgrace his sacred calling. But how often have I 
seen him leave his home, where the sick and the 
hungry felt, when he left them, that they bad lost 
their only earthly friends, to ride on a duty which 
could not be neglected for domestic evils. Oh f 
how hard it must be, to preach consolation to 
others, when your own heart is bursting with an 
guish !” 

“ But it is all over now !” exclaimed Elizabeth, 
“ your father’s income must now be equal to his 
wants — it must be — it shall be — ” 

u It is,” replied Louisa, dropping her head on 
her bosom to conceal the tears which flowed in 
spite of her gentle Christianity, u for there are nono 
left to be supplied but me.” 

The turn the conversation had taken drove from 
the minds of the young maidens all other thoughts 
but those of holy charity, and Elizabeth folded her 
friend in her arms, who gave vent to her momenta- 
ry grief in audible sobs. When this burst of emo- 
tion had subsided, Louisa raised her mild counte- 
nance, and they continued their walk in silence. 

By this time they had gained the summit of the 
mountain, where they left the highway, and -pur- 
sued their course, under the shade of the stately 


106 


THE PIONEERS. 


tiees that crowned the eminence. The day was 
becoming warm, and the girls plunged more deeply 
into the forest, as they found its invigorating cool- 
ness agreeably contrasted to the excessive heat 
they had experienced in their ascent. The con- 
versation, as if by mutual consent, was entirely 
changed to the little incidents and scenes of their 
walk, and every tall pine, and every shrub or flow- 
er, called forth some simple expression of admi- 
ration. 

In this manner they proceeded along the margin 
of the precipice, catching occasional glimpses of the 
placid Otsego, or pausing to listen to the rattling 
of wheels and the sounds of hammers, that rose 
from the valley, to mingle the signs of men with 
the scenes of nature, when Elizabeth suddenly 
started, and exclaimed — 

u Listen ! there are the cries of a child on this 
mountain ! is there a clearing near us ? or can 
some little one have strayed from its parents ?” 

“ Such things frequently happen,” returned 
Louisa. u Let us follow the sounds ; it may be a 
wanderer starving on the hill ” 

Urged by this consideration, the females pursued 
the low, mournful sounds, that proceeded from the 
foi est, with quick and impatient steps. More than 
once, the ardent Elizabeth was on the point of an- 
nouncing that she saw the sufferer, when Louisa 
caught her by the arm, and pointing behind them 
cried — 

u Look at the dog !” 

Brave had been their companion, from the time 
the voice of his young mistress lured him from his 
kennel, to the present moment. His advanced age 
had long before deprived him of his activity ; and 
when his companions stopped to view the scenery, 
or to add to their bouquets, the mastiff would lay 


THJC PIONEERS. 


407 


his huge frame on the ground, and await their move- 
ments, with his eyes closed, and a listlessness in 
his air that ill accorded with the character of a pro- 
tector. But when, aroused by this cry from Lou- 
isa, Miss T emple turned, she saw the dog with his 
eyes keenly set on some distant object, his head 
bent near the ground, and his hair actually rising 
on his body, either through fright or anger. It was 
most probably the latter, for he was growling in a 
low key, and occasionally showing his teeth, in a 
manner that would have terrified his mistress, had 
she not so well known his good qualities. 

“ Brave !” she said, u be quiet, Brave ! what do 
you see, fellow ?” 

At the sounds of her voice, the rage of the mas- 
tiff, instead of being at all diminished, was very 
sensibly increased. He stalked in front of the la- 
dies, and seated himself at the feet of his mistress, 
growling louder than before, and occasionally giv- 
ing vent to his ire by a short, surly barking. 

u What does he see ?” said Elizabeth, “ there 
rnjust be some animal in sight.” 

Hearing no answer from her companion, Miss 
Temple turned her head, and beheld Louisa, stand- 
ing with her face whitened to the colour of death, 
and her finger pointing upward, with a sort of flick- 
ering, convulsed motion. The quick eye of Eliza- 
beth glanced in the direction indicated by her 
friend, where she saw the fierce front and glaring 
eyes of a female panther, fixed on them in horrid 
malignity, and threatening instant destruction. 

u Let us fly !” exclaimed Elizabeth, grasping the 
arm of Louisa, whose form yielded like melting 
snow, and sunk lifeless to the earth. 

There was not a single feeling in the tempera- 
ment of Elizabeth Temple, that could prompt her 
to desert a companion in such an extremity ; and 


*08 


THE PIONEERS. 


she fell on her knees, by the side of the inanimate 
Louisa, tearing from the person of her friend, with 
an instinctive readiness, such parts of her dress as 
might obstruct her respiration, and encouraging 
their only safeguard, the dog, at the same time, by 
the sounds of her voice. 

“ Courage, Brave !” she cried, her own tones 
beginning to tremble, “ courage, courage, good 
Brave.” 

A quarter-grown cub, that had hitherto been un- 
seen. now appeared, dropping from the branches oi 
a sapling that grew under the shade of the beech 
which held its dam. This ignorant, but vicious 
creature, approached the dog, imitating the actions 
and sounds of its parent, but exhibiting a strange 
mixture of the playfulness of a kitten with the fe- 
rocity of its race. Standing on its hind legs, it 
would rend the bark of a tree with its fore paws, 
and play all the antics of a cat, for a moment ; and 
then, by lashing itself with its tail, growling, and 
scratching the earth, it would attempt the mani- 
festations of anger that rendered its parent so ter- 
rific. 

All this time Brave stood firm and undaunted, his 
short tail erect, his body drawn backward on its 
haunches, and his eyes following the movements of 
both dam and cub. At every gambol played by the 
latter, it approached nigher to the dog, the growl- 
ing of the three becoming more horrid at each mo- 
ment, until the younger beast overleaping its in- 
tended bound, fell directly before the mastiff. 
There was a moment of fearful cries and struggles, 
but they ended almost as soon as commenced, by 
the cub appearing in the air, hurled from the jaws 
of Brave, with a violence that sent it against a 
tree so forcibly as to render it completely sense- 
less. 


THU f IOJVEEK6. 


40‘J 

Elizabeth witnessed the short struggle, and hei 
blood was warming with the triumph of the dog. 
when sho saw the form of the old panther in the 
air. springing twenty feet from the branch of the 
beech to the back of the mastiff. No words of ours 
can desci ibe the fury of the conflict that followed. 
It was a confused struggle on the dried leaves, ac- 
companied by loud and terrific cries. Miss Tem- 
ple continued on her knees, bending over the form 
of Louisa, her eyes fixed on the animals, with an 
interest so horrid, and yet so intense, that she al- 
most forgot her own stake in the result. So rapid 
and vigorous were the bounds of the inhabitant of 
the forest, that its active frame seemed constantly 
in the air, while the dog nobly faced his foe at each 
successive leap. When the panther lighted on the 
shoulders of the mastiff, which was its constant aim, 
old Brave, though torn with her talons, and stained 
with his own blood, that already flowed from a 
dozen wounds, would shake off his furious foe, like 
a feather, and rearing on his hind legs, rush to the 
fray again, with his jaws distended, and a dauntless 
eye. But age, and his pampered life, greatly dis- 
qualified the noble mastiff for such a struggle. In 
every thing but courage, he was only the vestige 
of what he had once been. A higher bound than 
ever, raised the wary and furious beast far beyond 
the* reach of the dog, who was making a desperate 
but fruitless dash at her, from which she alighted in 
a favourable position, on the back of her aged foe. 
For a single moment only, could the panther remain 
there, the great strength of the dog returning with 
a convulsive effort. But Elizabeth saw, as Brave 
fastened his teeth in the side of his enemy, that the 
collar of brass around his neck, which had been 
glittering throughout the fray, was of the colour of 
blood, and directly, that his frame was sinking to 
3o 


410 


THE TJLOiVEElib. 


the earth, where it soon lay prostrate and helpless. 
Several mighty efforts of the wild-cat to extricate 
herself from the jaws of the dog, followed, but they 
were fruitless, until the mastiff turned on his back, 
his lips collapsed, and his teeth loosened, when the 
short convulsions and stillness that succeeded, an- 
nounced the death of poor Brave. 

Elizabeth now lay wholly at the mercy of the 
beast. There is said to be something in the front 
of the image of the Maker, that daunts the hearts 
of the inferior beings of his creation ; and it would 
seem that some such power, in the present instance, 
suspended the threatened blow. The eyes of the 
monster and the kneeling maiden met, for an in- 
stant, when the former stooped to examine her fall- 
en foe ; next to scent her luckless cub. From the 
latter examination, it turned, however, with its 
eyes apparently emitting flashes of fire, its tail 
lashing its sides furiously, and its claws projecting 
for inches from her broad feet. 

Miss Temple did not, or could not move. Her 
hands were clasped in the attitude of prayer, but 
her eyes were still drawn to her terrible enemy — 
her cheeks were blanched to the whiteness of mar- 
ble, and her lips were slightly separated with hor- 
ror. The moment seemed now to have arrived for 
the fatal termination, and the beautiful figure of 
Elizabeth was bowing meekly to the stroke, when 
a rustling of leaves from behind seemed rather to 
mock the organs, than to meet her ears. 

“ Hist ! hist !” said a low voice — “ steep lower, 
gal ; your bonnet hides the creater’s head.” 

It was rather the yielding of nature than a com 
pliance with this unexpected order, that caused the 
head of our heroine to sink on her bosom ; when 
»he heard the report of the rifle, the whizzing of the 
bullet, and the enraged cries of the beast, who was 


THE PIONEERS. 


411 


rolling over on the earth, biting it3 own flesh, and 
tearing the twigs and branches within its reach. 
At the next instant the form of the Leather-stock- 
ing rushed by her, and he called aloud — 

“ Come in, Hector, come in, you old fool ; ’tis 
a hard lived animal, and may jump ag’in.” 

Natty maintained his position in front of the 
maidens, most fearlessly, notwithstanding the vio- 
lent bounds and threatening aspect of the wounded 
panther, which gave several indications of return- 
ing strength and ferocity, until his rifle was again 
loaded, when he stepped up to the enraged animal, 
and placing the muzzle close to its head, every 
spark of life was extinguished by the discharge. 

The death of her terrible enemy appeared to 
Elizabeth like a resurrection from her own grave. 
There was an elasticity in the mind of our heroine, 
that rose to meet the pressure of instant danger, 
and the more direct to the senses her apprehen- 
sions came, the more her nature had struggled to 
overcome them. But still she was woman. Fad 
she been left to herself, in her late extremity, she 
w’ould probably have used her faculties to the ut- 
most, and with discretion, in protecting her per- 
son, but encumbered with her inanimate friend, 
retreat was a thing not to be attempted. — Notwith- 
standing the fearful aspect of her foe, the eye ot 
Elizabeth had never shrunk from its gaze, and 
long after the event, her thoughts would recur to 
her passing sensations, and the sweetness of her 
midnight sleep would be disturbed, as her active 
fancy conjured in dreams, the most trifling move- 
ments of savage fury, that the beast had exhibited 
in its moment of power. 

We shall leave the reader to imagine the resto- 
ration of Louisa’s senses, and the expressions' of 
gratitude which fell from the young women. The 


412 


THE PIONEERS*. 


former was effected by a little water, that was 
brought from one of the thousand springs of those 
mountains, in the cap of the Leather-stocking ; and 
the latter were uttered with all the warmth that 
might be expected from the character of Elizabeth. 
Natty received her vehement protestations of gra- 
titude, with a simple expression of good-will, and 
with indulgence for her present excitement, but 
with a carelessness that showed how little he 
thought of the service he had rendered. 

“ Well, well,” he said, “ be it so, gal ; let it be 
so, if you wish it — we’ll talk the thing over an- 
other time ; but I’m sore afeard you’ll find Mr. Oli- 
ver a better companion than an old hunter, like 
me. Come, come — let us get into the road, for 
you’ve had tirror enough to make you wish your- 
self in your father’s house ag’in.” 

This was uttered as they were proceeding, at a 
pace that was adapted to the weakness of Louisa, 
towards the highway : on reaching which the la- 
dies separated from their guide, declaring them- 
selves equal to the remainder of their walk w ithout 
his assistance, and feeling encouraged by the sight 
of the village, which lay beneath their feet, like a 
picture, with its limpid lake in front, the winding 
stream along its margin, and its hundrea chimneys 
of whitened bricks. 

The reader need not be told the nature of the 
emotions which two youthful, ingenuous, and well- 
educated girls would experience at their escape 
from a death so horrid as the one which had im- 
pended over them, while they pursued their way 
in silence along the track on the side of the moun- 
tain ; nor how deep were their mental thanks to 
that power which had given them their existence, 
and which had not deserted them in their extremi- 
ty ; neither how often they pressed each other’s 


THE PIONEERS. 


413 


arms, as the assurance of their present safety came. 
Like’ a healing balm, athwart their troubled spirits, 
when their thoughts were recurring to the recent 
moments of horror. 

Leather-stocking remained on the hill, gazing 
after their retiring figures, until they were hid by 
a bend in the road, when he whistled in his dogs, 
and shouldering his rifle, he returned into the 
forest. 

u Well, it was a skeary thing to the young crea 
ters,” said Natty, while he retrod the path towards 
the slain. u It might frighten an older woman, to 
see a she painter so near her, with a dead cub by 
its side. I wonder if I had aimed at the varmint’s 
eye, if I shouldn’t have touched the life sooner than 
in the forehead ? but they are hard-lived animals, 
and it was a good shot, consid’ring that I could see 
nothing but the head and peak of its tail. Hah ! 
who goes there ?” 

“ How goes it, Natty?” said Mr. Doolittle, step- 
ping out of the bushes, with a motion that was a 
good deal accelerated by the sight of the rifle, that 
was already lowered in his direction. “ What ' 
shooting this warm day ! mind, old man, the law 
don’t get hold on you.” “ 

M The law, Squire ! I have shook hands with 
the law these forty year,” returned Natty ; u for 
what has a man who lives in the wilderness to do 
w ith the ways of the law ?” 

“ Not much, maybe,” said Hiram , “ but you 
sometimes trade in venison. I s’pose you know 
Leather-stocking, that there is an act passed to lay 
a fine of five pounds currency, or twelve dollars 
and fifty cents, by decimals, on every man who 
kills a leer betwixt January and August. The 
Judge had a great hand in getting the law through.” 

“ I can believe it,” returned the old hunter : u I 
35 * 


414 


THIS PIONEERS. 


can believe that or any thing, of a man who carries 
on as he does in the country.” 

u Yes, the law is quite positive, and the Judge is 
bent on putting it in force — five pounds penalty. 
1 thought I heerd your hounds out on the scent of 
so’ thing this morning: I didn’t know but they 
might get you in difficulty.” 

“ They know their manners too well,” said 
Natty, carelessly. u And how much goes to the 
state’s evidence, Squire ?” 

“ How much !” repeated Hiram, quailing under 
the honest but sharp look of the hunter — “ the in- 
former gets half, I — I b’lieve ; — yes, I guess it’s 
half. But there’s blood on your sleeve, man — you 
haven’t been shooting any thing this morning ?” 

“ I have, though,” said the hunter, nodding his 
head significantly to the other, M and a good shot I 
made of it.” 

u H-e-m !” ejaculated the magistrate; “and 
where is the game ? I s’pose it’s of a good nater, 
for your dogs won’t hunt at any thing that isn’t 
choish.” 

“ They’ll hunt any thing I tell them to, Squire,” 
cried Natty, favouring the other with his laugh. 
“ They’ll hunt you, if I say so. He-e-e-re, 
he-e-e-re, Hector — he-e-e-re, slut — come this 
a-way, pups — come this a-way— come hither.” 

w Oh ! I’ve always heern a good character of the 
dogs,” returned Mr. Doolittle, quickening his pace 
by raising each leg in rapid succession, as the 
hounds scented around his person. “ And where 
is the game, Leather-stocking ?” 

During this dialogue, the speakers had been 
walking at a very fast gait, and Natty swung the 
end of his rifle round, pointing through the bushes, 
and replied — 

“ There lays one. How do you like such meat ?” 


THE PIONEERS. 


415 


“ This !” exclaimed Hiram, <c why this is Judge 
Temple’s dog Brave. Take kear, Leather-stock- 
ing, and don’t make an inimy of the Judge. I hope 
you haven’t harmed the animal ?” 

“ Look for yourself, Mr. Doolittle,” said Natty, 
drawing his knife from his girdle, and wiping it, in 
a knowing manner, once or twice across his gar- 
ment of buckskin ; u does his throat look as if I 
had cut it with this knife ?” 

a It is dreadfully tore ! it’s an awful wownd — 
no knife never did this deed. Who could have 
done it ?” 

“ That painter behind you, Squire — look, there’s 
two of them.” 

“ Painters !” echoed Hiram, whirling on his 
heel, with an agility that would have done credit 
to a dancing master ; “ where’s a painter ?” 

“ Be easy, man,” said Natty ; w there’s two of 
the vinimous things ; but the dog finished one, 
and I have fastened the other’s jaws for her ; so 
you needn’t look so skeared, Squire ; they won’t 
hurt you.” 

“ And where’s the deer,?” cried Hiram, staring 
about him with a bewildered air. 

“ Anan ! deer !” repeated Natty. 

“ Sartain, an’t there ven’son here, or didn’t you 
kill a buck ?” 

“ What ! when the law forbids the thing, 
Squire !” said the old hunter. “ I hope there’s n > 
law ag’in killing the painters.” 

“ No ; there’s a bounty on the scalps — but —will 
your dogs hunt painters, Natty ?” 

“ Any thing ; didn’t I tell you they’d hunt a 
man ? He-e-re, he-e-re, pups” — 

“ Oh ! yes, yes, I remember. Well, they are 
strange dogs, I must say — I am quite in a wonder- 
ment.” 


4lti 


THE PIONEERS. 


Natty had seated himself on the ground, and 
having laid the grim head of his late ferocious ene- 
my in his lap, was drawing his knife with a prac- 
tised hand around the ears, which he tore^from 
the head of the beast in such a manner as to pre 
serve their connexion, when he answered — 

“What at, Squire? did you never see a pain 
ter’s scalp afore ? Come, you be a magistrate, 1 
wish you’d make me out an order for the bounty.” 

“ The bounty !” repeated Hiram, holding the 
ears on the end of his finger, for a moment, as if 
uncertain how to proceed. “Well, let us go 
down to your hut, where you can take the oath, 
and I will write out the order. I s’pose you 
have a bible ? all the law wants is the four Evan- 
gelists and the Lord’s prayer.” 

“ I rather guess not,” said Natty, a little coldly ; 
“ not such a bible as the law needs.” 

“ Oh ! there’s but one sort of bible, at least that’s 
good in law,” returned the magistrate ; “ and yourn 
will do as well as another’s. Come, the carcasses 
are worth nothing, man ; let us go down and take 
the oath.” 

“ Softly, softly, Squire,” said the hunter, lifting 
his trophies very deliberately from the ground, and 
shouldering his rifle ; “ why do you want an oath 
at all, for a thing that your own eyes has seen ? 
won’t you believe yourself, that another man must 
swear to a fact that you know to be true ? You 
seen me scalp the creaters, and if I must swear to 
it, it shall be before Judge Temple, who needs an 
oath.” 

“ Rut we have no pen or paper here, Leather- 
stocking ; we must go to the hut for them, or hcr^ 
can I write the order ?” 

Natty turned his simple features on the cunning 
magistrate with another of his laughs, as he said — 


THE PIONEERS. 


417 


‘ And what should I be doing with such scholars’ 
tools ? I want no pens or paper, not knowing the 
use of ’ither ; and so I keep none. No, no, I’ll 
bring the scalps into the village, Squire, and you 
can make out the order on one of your law-books, 
and it will be all the better for it. The deuse take 
this leather on the neck of the dog, it will strangle 
the old fool. Can you lend me a knife, Squire ?” 

Hiram, who seemed particularly anxious to be 
on good terms with his companion, unhesitatingly 
complied. Natty cut the thong from the neck of 
the hound, and, as he returned the knife to its 
owner, carelessly remarked — 

u ’Tis a good bit of steel, and has cut such lea- 
ther as this very same before now, I dare say.” 

u Do you mean to charge me with letting your 
hounds loose ?” exclaimed Hiram, with a conscious- 
ness that disarmed his cautiom 

“ Loose !” repeated the hunter — “ I let them 
loose myself. I always let them loose before 1 
leave the hut.” 

The ungovernable amazement with which Mr. 
Doolittle listened to this falsehood, would have be- 
trayed his agency in the liberation of the dogs, had 
Natty wanted any further confirmation ; and the 
coolness and management of the old man now dis- 
appeared in open indignation. 

“ Look you here, Mr. Doolittle,” he said, strik- 
ing the breech of his rifle violently on the ground ; 
u what there is in the wigwam of a poor man like 
me, that one like you can crave, I don’t know ; but 
this I tell you to your face, that you never shall 
put a foot under the roof of my cabin with my con- 
sent, and that if you harbour round the spot as you 
have done lately, you may meet with treatment 
that you won’t over and above relish ” 


116 


THE PIONEERS. 


“ And let me tell you, Mr. Bumppo,” said Hi- 
ram, retreating, however, with a quick step, “ that 
I know you’ve broke the law, and that I’m a ma- 
gistrate, and will make you feel it too, before you 
are a day older.” 

“ That for you and your law too,” cried Natty, 
snapping his fingers at the justice of the peace — 
“ away with you, you varmint, before the divil 
tempts me to give you your desarts. Take kear, 
if 1 ever catch your prowling face in the woods 
ag’in, that I 'don’t shoot it for an owl ” 

There is something at all times commanding in 
honest indignation, and Hiram did not stay to pro- 
voke the wrath of the old Hunter to extremities 
When the intruder was out of sight, Natty pro- 
ceeded to the hut, where he found all quiet as the 
grave. He fastened his dogs, and tapping at the 
door, which was opened by Edwards, asked — 

“ Is all safe, lad !” 

“ Every thing,” returned the youth. “ Some 
one attempted the lock, but it was too strong for 
him.” 

“ I know the creater,” said Natty, “ but he’ll 
not trust himself within reach of my rifle ag’in 
very soon, for I’ll — 7 — ” What more was uttered by 
the Leather-stocking, in his vexation, was render- 
ed inaudible by the closing of the door of the ca- 
bin. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


tt It la noised he hatn a mass of treasure .’ 1 * 

Timon of Athens 


When Marmaduke Temple and his cousin rode 
through the gate of the former, the heart of the fa- 
ther had ‘been too recently touched with the best 
feeling of our nature, to leave inclination for imme- 
diate discourse. There was an importance in the 
air of Richard, which would not have admitted of 
the ordinary informal conversation of the Sheriff, 
without violating all the rules of consistency ; and 
the equestrians pursued their way with great dili 
gence, for more than a mile, in profound silence. 
At length the soft expression of parental care, 
blended with affection, was slowly chased from the 
handsome features of the Judge, and was gradually 
supplanted by the cast of humour and benevolence 
that was usually seated on his brow. 

u Well, Dickon,” he said, u since 1 have yielded 
myself, so far, implicitly to your guidance, 1 think 
the moment has arrived, when I am entitled to fur- 
ther confidence. Why and wherefore are we jour- 
neying together in this solemn gait ?” 

The Sheriff gave a loud hem, that rung far in the 
forest, which they had now entered, and keeping 
his eyes fixed on objects before him, like a man 


420 


THE PIONEERS. 


who is looking deep into futurity, he replied as 
follows : — 

“ There has always been one point of difference 
between us, Judge Temple, I may say, since our 
nativity ; not that I would insinuate that you are 
at all answerable for the acts of nature ; for a man 
is no more to be condemned for the misfortunes of 
his birth, than he is to be commended for the natu- 
ral advantages he may possess ; but on one point 
we may be said to have differed from our births, 
and they, you know, occurred within two days of 
each other.” 

u I really marvel, Richard, what this one point 
can be ; for, to my eyes, we seem to differ so ma 
terially, and so often — ” 

“ Mere consequences, sir,” interrupted the She- 
riff ; “ all our minor differences proceed from one 
cause, and that is, our opinions of the universal at- 
tainments of genius.” 

u In what, Dickon !” exclaimed the Judge. 

“ I speak plain English, I believe, Judge Tern 
pie ; at least I ought ; for my father, who taugb 
me, could speak — ” 

u Greek and Latin,” interrupted Marmaduke — 
u I well know the qualifications of your family in 
tongues, Dickon. But proceed to the point ; why 
are we travelling over this mountain to-day ?” 

“ To do justice to any subject, sir, the narrator 
must be suffered to proceed in his own way,” con- 
tinued the Sheriff. u You are of opinion, Judge 
Temple, that a man is to be qualified by nature and 
education to do only one thing well, whereas I 
kpow that genius will supply the place of learning, 
and that a certain sort of man can do any thing and 
every thing.” 

“ Like yourself, I suppose,” said Marmaduke, 
smiling. 


THE PIONEERS. 


421 


u I scorn personalities, sir,” returned the She- 
cff ; u I say nothing of myself ; but there are three 
men on your patent, of the kind that I should teim 
talented by nature for her general purposes, though 
acting under the influence of different situations.” 

“ We are better off, then, than I had supposed,” 
said Marmaduke. u Who are they ?” 

“ Why, sir, one is Hiram Doolittle ; he is a car- 
penter by trade, as you know, and I need only 
point to the village to exhibit his merits. Then 
he is a magistrate, and might shame many a man, 
in his distribution of justice, who has had better 
opportunities than himself.” 

M Well, he is one,” said Marmaduke, with the 
air of a man that was determined not to dispute the 
point. 

w Yes, sir, and Jotham Riddel is another.” 

“ Who !” exclaimed the Judge. 

“ Jotham Riddel.” 

u What, that dissatisfied, shiftless, lazy, specu- 
lating fellow ! he who changes his county every 
three years, his farm every six months, and his oc- 
cupation every season ! an agriculturist yesterday, 
a shoemaker to-day, and a schoolmaster to-mor- 
row ! that epitome of all the unsteady and profit- 
less propensities of the settlers without one of their 
good qualities to counterbalance the evil ! Nay, 

Richard, this is too bad for even but who is the 

third ?” 

“ As the third is not used to hearing such com- 
ments on his character, Judge Temple, I shall not 
name him,” said the indignant Sheriff. 

“ The amount of all this, then, Dickon, is, that 
the trio, of which you are one, and the principal, 
have made some important discovery.” 

w I have not said that I am one, Judge Temple. 
As I told } T ou before, 1 say nothing of myself. Rut 
3C* 


422 


THE PIONEERS. 


a discovery has been made, and you are deeply in- 
terested in it.” 

“ Proceed — I am all ears.” 

“ No, no, ’duke, you are bad enough, I own, but 
not so bad as that either ; your ears are not quite 
full grown.” 

The Sheriff laughed heartily at his own wit, and 
put himself in good humour thereby, when he 
gratified his patient cousin with the following ex- 
planation : — 

u You know, ’duke, that there is a man living on 
your estate that goes by the name of Natty Bump- 
po. Here has this man lived, by what I can learn, 
for more than forty years — by himself, until lately ; 
and now with strange companions.” 

“ Part very true, and all very probable,” said 
the Judge. 

“ All true, sir ; all true. Well, within these 
last few months have appeared as his companions^ 
an old Indian chief, the last, or one of the last of 
his tribe that is to be found in this part of the 
country, and a young man, who is said to be the 
son of some Indian agent, by a squaw.” 

“ Who says that ?” cried Marmaduke, with an 
interest that he had not manifested before. 

u Who ! why common sense — common report. 
But listen till you know all. This youth has very 
pretty talents — yes, what I call very pretty talents 
— and has been well educated, has seen very tole- 
rable company, and knows how to behave himself, 
when he has a mind to. Now, Judge Temple, can 
you tell me what has brought three such men as 
Indian John, Natty Bumppo, and Oliver Edwards, 
together ?” 

Marmaduke turned his countenance, in evident 
emprise, to his cousin, and replied quickly — 

1 Thou hast unexpectedly hit on a subject, Ri 


THE PIONEERS. 


423 


chard, that has often occupied my mind. But 
knowest thou any thing of this mystery, or arc 
they only the crude conjectures of — ” 

u Crude nothing, ’duke, crude nothing ; but facts, 
stubborn facts. You know there are mines in these 
mountains ; I have often heard you say that you 

believed in their existence” 

u Reasoning from analogy, Richard, but not wfth 
any certainty erf the fact.” 

u You have heard them mentioned, and have seen 
specimens of the ore, sir ; you will not deny that ! 
and, reasoning from analogy, as you say, if there be 
mines in South America, ought there not to be 
mines in North America too ?” 

“ Nay, nay, I deny nothing, my cousin. I cer- 
tainly have heard many rumours of the existence 
of mines in those hills ; and I do believe that I have 
seen specimens of the precious metals that have 
been found here. It would occasion me no surprise 
to learn that tin and silver, or what I consider of 

more consequence, good coal,” 

“ Damn your coal, sir,” cried the Sheriff ; “ who 
wants to find coal in these forests ? No, no, silver, 
’duke ; silver is the one thing needful, and silver is 
to be found. But listen : you are not to be told 
that the natives have long known the use of gold 
and silver ; now who so likely to be acquainted 
where they are to be found, as the ancient inhabit- 
ants of a country ? I have the best reasons for be- 
lieving that both Mohegan and the Leather-stock- 
ing have been privy to the existence of a mine in 
this very mountain, for many years.” 

The Sheriff had now touched his cousin in a sen- 
sitive spot ; and Marmaduke lent a more attentive 
ear to the speaker, who, after waiting a moment, 
to see the effect of this extraordinary develope- 
ment, proceeded — 


424 


THE PIONEERS 


u Yes, sir, I have my reasons, and at a proper 
time you shall know them.” 

“ No time is so good as the present,” exclaimed 
Marmaduke. 

“ Well, well, be attentive,” continued Richard, 
looking cautiously about him, to make certain that 
no eavesdropper was hid in the forest, though they 
were in constant motion. “ I have seen Mohegan 
and the Leather-stocking, with my ©wn eyes — and 
my eyes are as good as any body’s eyes — I have 
seen them, I say, both going up the mountain and 
coming down it, with spades and picks ; and others 
have seen them carrying things into their hut, in a 
secret and mysterious manner, after dark. Do you 
know what they could be ?” 

The Judge did not reply, but his brow had con- 
tracted, with a thoughtfulness that ho always wore 
when much interested, and his eyes rested on his 
cousin in expectation of hearing mere. Richard 
continued — 

“ It was ore. Now, sir, I ask if you can tell me 
who this Mr. Oliver Edwards is, that has made a 
part of your household since last Christmas ?” 

Marmaduke again raised his eyes, but continued 
silent, shaking his head in the negative. 

“ That he is a half-breed we know, for Mohegan 
does not scruple to call him, openly, his kinsman ; 
that he is well educated we know. But as to his 
business here — do you remember that about a 
month before this young man made his appearance 
among us, Natty was absent from home several 
days ? You do ; for you inquired for him, as you 
wanted some venison to take to your friends, when 
you went for Bess. Well, hi was not to he found. 
Old John was left in the hut "alone ; and when 
Natty did appear, although he came on in the night, 
he was seen drawing one of those jumpers that they 


THE PIONEERS. 


425 


carry tlieir grain to mill in, and to take out some- 
thing, with great care, that he had covered up un- 
der his bear-skins. 'Now let me ask you, Judge 
Temple, what motive could induce a man like the 
Leather-stocking to make a sled, and toil with a 
load over these mountains, if he had nothing blit 
his rifle or his ammunition to carry ?” 

M They frequently make these jumpers to con- 
vey their game home, and you say he had been ab- 
sent many days.” 

“ How did he kill it ? His rifle was in the village, 
to he mended. No, no — that he was gone to some 
unusual place is certain ; that he brought back 
some secret utensils is also certain ; and since then 
he has not allowed a soul to approach his hut.” 

“ He was never fond of intruders” 

“ I know it,” interrupted Richard ; “ but did he 
drive them from his cabin morosely ? Within a 
fortnight of his return, this Mr. Edwards appears. 
They spent whole days in the mountains, pretend- 
ing to be shooting, but in reality exploring ; the 
frosts prevented their digging at that time, and he 
availed himself of a lucky accident to get into good 
quarters. But even now, he is quite half of his 
time in that hut — many hours in each night. They 
are smelting, ’duke, they are smelting, and as they 
t> grow rich, you grow poor.” 

“ How much of this is thine own, Richard, and 
how much comes from others ? I would sift the 
wheat from the chaff.” 

“ Part is my own, for I saw the jumper, though 
it was broken up and burnt in a day oi two. I 
have told you that I saw the old man with his 
spades and picks. Hiram met Natty, as he w as 
crossing the mountain, the night of his arrival w ith 
the sled, and very good-naturedly offered — Ilham 
is good-natured -to carry up part of his load, for 
36 * 


42 G 


THE PIONEERS. 


the old man had a heavy pull up the back of the 
mountain, but he wouldn’t listen to the thing, and 
repulsed the offer in such a manner that the Squire 
said he had half a mind to swear the peace against 
him. Since the snow has been off, more especial- 
ly after the frosts got out of the ground, we have 
kept a watchful eye on the gentlemen, in which we 
have found Jotham very useful.” 

Marmaduke did not much like the associates ol 
Richard in this business ; still he knew them to be 
cunning and ready in expedients ; and as there was 
certainly something mysterious, not only in the 
connexion between the old hunters and Edwards, 
but in what his cousin had just related, he began 
to revolve the subject in his own mind with more 
care. On reflection, he remembered various cir- 
cumstances that tended to corroborate these sus- 
picions, and, as the whole business favoured one 
of his infirmities, he yielded the more readily to 
their impression. The mind of Judge Temple, at 
all times comprehensive, had received, from his 
peculiar occupations, a bias to look far into futurity, 
in speculations on the improvements that posterity 
were to make in his lands. To his eye, where 
others saw nothing but a wilderness, towns, manu- 
factories, bridges, canals, mines, and all the other 
resources of an old country, were constantly pre- 
senting themselves, though his good sense sup- 
pressed, in some degree, the exhibition of these 
expectations. 

As the Sheriff allowed his cousin full time to re- 
flect on what he had heard, the probability of some 
pecuniary adventure being the connecting link in 
the chain that brought Oliver Edwards into the 
cabin of Leather-stocking, appeared to him each 
moment to be stronger. But Marmaduke was too 
much in the habit of examining both sides of a sub- 


THE PIONEERS. 


42-7 


ject, not to perceive the objections, and reasoned 
with himself aloud : 

“ It cannot be so, or the youth would not be 
driven so near the verge of poverty.” 

“ What so likely to make a man dig for money, 
as being poor ?” cried the Sheriff. 

“ Besides, there is an elevation of character about 
Oliver, that proceeds from education, which would 
forbid so clandestine a proceeding.” 

“ Could an ignorant fellow smelt ?” continued 
Richard. 

“ Then Bess hints that he Was reduced to his 
last shilling, when we took him into our dwell- 
ing.” 

“ He had been buying tools. And would he 
spend his last sixpence for a shot at a Turkey, had 
he not known where to get more.” 

“ Can I have possibly been so long a dupe ! His 
manner has been rude to me at times ; but I attri- 
buted it to his conceiving himself injured, and to 
his mistaking the forms of the world.” 

u Haven’t you been a dupe all your life, ’duke ? 
and an’t what you call ignorance of forms deep 
cunning, to conceal his real character ?” 

“ If he were bent on deception, he would have 
concealed his knowledge, and passed with us for 
an inferior man.” 

u He cannot. I could no more pass for a fool, 
myself, than f could fly. Knowledge is not to be 
concealed, like a candle under a bushel.” 

u Richard,” said the Judge, turning to his cousin, 
u there are many reasons against the truth of thy 
conjectures; but thou hast awakened suspicions 
which must be satisfied. But why are we travel- 
ling here ?” 

a Jotham, who has been much in the mountain 
latterly, being kept there by me and Hiram, has 


4:28 


THE PIONEERS. 


made a discovery, which he will not explain, he 
says, for he is bound by an oath ; but the amount 
is, that he knows where the ore lies, and he has 
this day begun to dig. I would not consent to the 
thing, ’duke, without your knowledge, for the land 
is yours ; and now you know the reason of our 
ride. Don’t you call this a countermine for their 
mine, ha !” 

“ And where is the desirable spot ?” asked the 
Judge, with an air half comical, half serious. 

“ Close by ; and when we have visited that, 1 
will show you one of the places that we have found 
within a week, where our gentlemen hunters have 
oeen amusing themselves for six months past.” 

The gentlemen continued to discuss the matter, 
while their horses picked their way under the 
branches of trees, and over the uneven ground of 
the mountain. They soon arrived at the end of 
their journey, where, in truth, they found Jotham 
already buried to his neck in a hole that he had 
been digging. 

Marmaduke questioned the miner very closely, 
as to his reasons for believing in the existence of 
the precious metals near that particular spot ; but 
tbe fellow maintained an obstinate mystery in his 
answers. He asserted that he had the best of 
reasons for what he did, and inquired of the Judge 
what portion of the profits would fall to his own 
share, in the event of success, with an earnestness 
that proved his faith. After spending an hour near 
the place, examining the stones, and searching for 
the usual indications of the proximity of ore, the 
Judge remounted, and suffered his cousin to lead 
the way to the place where the mysterious trio 
had been making their excavation. 

The spot chosen by Jotham was on the back of 
the mountain that overhung the hut of Leather 


THE PIONEERS. 


4^9 


stocking, and the place selected by Natty and his 
companions was on the other side of the same hill, 
but above the road, and, ol course, in an opposite 
direction to the route taken by the ladies in their 
walk. 

“ We shall be safe in approaching the place 
now,” said Richard, while they dismounted and 
fastened their horses ; u for I took a look with the 
glass, and saw John and Leather-stocking in their 
canoe fishing, before we left home, and Oliver is 
in the same pursuit ; but these may be nothing but 
shams, to blind our eyes, so we will be expedi- 
tious, for it would not be pleasant to be caught 
here by them.” 

u Not on my own land !” said Marmaduke stern- 
ly. u If it be as you suspect, I will know their 
reasons for making this excavation.” 

u Mum,” said Richard, laying his finger on his 
lip, and leading the way down a very difficult de- 
scent to a sort of natural cavern, which was form- 
ed in the face of the rock, and not unlike a fire- 
place in shape. In front of this place lay a pile of 
earth, which had evidently been taken from the 
recess, and part of which was yet fresh. An exa- 
mination of the exterior of the cavern left the 
Judge in doubt whether it was one of nature’s fro- 
lics that had thrown it into that shape, or whether 
it had been wrought by the hands of man, at some 
earlier period. But there could be no doubt that 
the whole of the interior was of recent formation, 
and the marks of the pick were still visible, where 
the soft, lead-coloured rock had opposed itself to 
the progress of the miners. The whole formed an 
excavation of about twenty feet in width, and 
nearly twice that distance in depth. The height 
was much greater than was required for the ordi- 


430 


THE PIONEERS. 


uary purposes of experiment; but this was evi- 
dently the effect of chance, as the roof of the ca- 
vern was a natural stratum of rock, that projected 
many feet beyond the base of the pile. Immedi- 
ately in front of the recess, or cave, was a little ter- 
race, partly formed by nature, and partly by the 
earth that had been carelessly thrown aside by the 
labourers. The mountain fell off precipitately in 
front of the terrace, and the approach by its sides 
under the ridge of the rocks, was difficult and a 
little dangerous. The whole was wild, rude, and 
apparently incomplete : for, while looking among 
the bushes, the Sheriff found the very implements 
that had been used in the work. 

When the Sheriff thought that his cousin had 
examined the spot sufficiently, he cried — 

“ Weil, Judge Temple, are you satisfied ?” 

“ Perfectly that there is something mysterious, 
and to me perplexing in this business. It is a se- 
cret spot, and cunningly devised, Richard ; yet 1 
see no symptoms of ore.” 

w Do you expect, sir, to find gold and silver lying 
like pebbles on the surface of the earth ? — dollars 
and dimes ready coined to your hands! No, no — 
the treasure must be sought after to be won. But 
let them mine ; I shall countermine.” 

The Judge took an accurate survey of the place, 
and noted in his memorandum-book such marks as 
were necessary to find it again, in the event of 
Richard’s absence ; when the cousins returned to 
their horses. 

On reaching the highway they separated, the 
Sheriff to summon twenty-four “ good men and 
true,” to attend as the inquest of the county, on 
the succeeding Monday, when Marmaduke held his 
stated court of “ common pleas and general sessions 


THE PIONEERS. 


43 ] 

of the peace,” and the Judge to return, musing 
deeply on what he had seen and heard in the 
course of the morning. 

When the horse of the latter reached the spot 
where the highway fell towards the valley, the 
eye of Marmaduke iested, it is true, on the samf 
scene that had, ten minutes before, been so sooth- 
ing to the feelings of his daughter and her friend, as 
they emerged from the forest ; but it rested in va- 
cancy. He threw the reins to his sure-footed 
beast, and suffered the animal to travel at its own 
gait, while he soliloquized as follows : — 

“ There may be more in this than I at first sup- 
posed. I have suffered my feeling to blind my 
reason, in admitting an unknown youth in this 
manner to my dwelling ; — yet this is not the land 
of suspicion. I will have the Leather-stocking be- 
fore me, and, by a few direct questions, extract 
the truth from the simple old man.” — 

At that instant the Judge caught a glimpse of 
the figures of Elizabeth and Louisa, who were 
slowly descending the mountain, but a short dis- 
tance before him. He put spurs to his horse, and 
riding up to them, dismounted, and drove his steed 
along the narrow path. While the agitated parent 
was listening to the vivid description that his 
daughter gave of her recent danger, and her unex- 
pected escape, all thoughts of mines, vested rights, 
and examinations, were absorbed in his emotions ; 
and when the image of Natty again crossed his re- 
collection, it was not as a lawless and depredating 
squatter, but as the preserver of his child. 


THE PIOJVELiiS 


lo 1 

Marmaduke ; “ something in relation to his office, 
most probably, as the court sits so shortly.” 

“ Ay, ay, you have it, sir,” cried Benjamin, 
“ it’s sum’mat about a complaint that he has to 
make of the old Leather-stocking, who, to my judg- 
ment, is the better man of the two. It’s a very 
good sort of a man is this Master Bumppo, and he 
has a way with a spear, all the same as if he was 
brought up at the bow oar of the captain’s barge, 
or was born with a boat-hook in his hand.” 

“ Against the Leather-stocking !” cried Eliza- 
beth, rising from her reclining posture. 

“ Rest easy, my child,” said the Judge, smiling, 
“ it is some trifle, I pledge you ; I believe I am al- 
ready acquainted with its import. Trust me, Bess, 
your champion shall be safe in my care. — Show 
Mr. Doolittle in, Benjamin.” 

Miss Temple appeared satisfied with this assu- 
rance, but fastened her dark eyes on the person of 
the architect, who profited by the permission, and 
instantly made his appearance. 

All the impatience of Hiram seemed to vanish 
the instant he entered the apartment. After sa- 
luting the Judge and his daughter, he took the 
chair to which Marmaduke pointed, and sat for a 
minute, composing his straight black hair, with a 
gravity in his demeanour that was intended to do 
honour to his official station. At length he said — 

“ It’s likely, from what I hear, that Miss Tem- 
ple had a pretty narrow chance with the painters, 
on the mountain.” 

Marmaduke made a gentle inclination of his head 
by way of assent, but continued silent. 

u I s’pose the law gives a bounty on the scalps.'’ 
continued Hiram, “ in which case the Leather- 
stocking will make a good job on’t.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


435 


rt It shall be my care, sir, to see that he is re- 
warded,” returned the Judge. 

“ Yes, yes, I rather guess that nobody here- 
abouts doubts the Judge’s generosity. Doos he 
know whether the Sheriff has fairly made up his 
mind to have a reading-desk or a deacon’s pew un- 
der the pulpit ?” 

“ I have not heard my cousin speak on that sub- 
ject lately,” replied Marmaduke. 

“ I think it’s likely that we will have a pretty 
dull court on’t, from what I can gather. I hear 
that Jotham Riddel and the man who bought his 
betterments, have agreen to leave their difference 
to men, and I don’t think there’ll be more than two 
civil cases in the calendar.” 

“ I am glad of it,” said the Judge ; u nothing gives 
me more pain than to see my settlers wasting their 
time and substance in the unprofitable struggles of 
the law. I hope it may prove true, sir.” 

u I rather guess ’twill be left out to men,” added 
Hiram, with an air equally balanced between doubt 
and assurance, but which Judge Temple under- 
stood to mean certainty ; w I some think that I am 
appointed a referee in the case myself ; Jotham as 
much as told me that he should take me. The de- 
fendant, I guess, means to take Captain Hollister, 
and we two have partly agreen on Squire Jones 
for the third man.” 

a Are there any criminals to be tried ?” asked 
Marmaduke. 

u There’s the counterfeiters,” returned the ma- 
gistrate ; “ as they were caught in the fact, I think 
it likely that they’ll be indicted, in which case, it’s 
probable they will be tried.” 

“ Certainly, sir ; I had forgotten these men. 
There are no more I hope.” 

' 1 Why, there is a threaten to cone forrad with 


43f, 


THE PIONEERS. 


an assault, that happened at the last independence 
day ; but Pm not sartain that the law’ll take hold 
on’t. There was plaguey hard words passed, but 
whether they struck or not I haven’t heern. — 
There’s some folks talk of a deer or two being 
killed out of season, over on the west side of the 
patent, by some of the squatters on the c Frac- 
tions.’ ” 

“ Let a complaint be made, by all means,” cried 
the Judge ; “ I am determined to see the law exe- 
cuted to the letter, on all such depredators.” 

“ Why, yes, I thought the Judge was of that 
mind ; I come partly on such a business myself.” 

“ You !” exclaimed Marmaduke, comprehending 
in an instant, how completely he had been caught 
by the other’s cunning ; u and what have you to 
say, sir ?” 

“ I some think that Natty Bumppo has the car- 
cass of a deer in his hut at this moment, and a con- 
siderable part of my business was to get a sarch- 
warrant to examine.” 

“ You think, sir ! do you know that the law ex- 
acts an oath, before I can issue such a precept. 
The habitation of a citizen is not to be idly invaded 
on light suspicion.” 

u I rather think I can swear to it myself,” re- 
turned the immovable Hiram ; “ and Jotham is in 
the street, and as good as ready to come in and 
make oath to the same thing.” 

Ci Then issue the warrant thyself ; thou art a 
magistrate, Mr. Doolittle ; why trouble me with 
the matter ?” 

“ Why, seeing it’s the first complaint under the 
law, and knowing the Judge set his heart on the 
thing, I thought it best that the authority to sarch 
should come from himself. Besides, as I’m much 
in the woods, among the timber, I don’t altogether 


THE PIOJNEERS. 


437 


.ike making an enemy of the Leather-stocking. 
Now the Judge has a weight in the county that 
puts him above all fear.” 

Miss Temple turned her beautiful face to the cal- 
lous architect, with a scornful smile, as she said — 

“ And what has any honest person to dread from 
so kind a man as poor Bumppo ?” 

“ Why, it’s as easy, Miss, to pull a rifle-trigger 
on a magistrate as on a painter. But if the Judge 
don’t conclude to issoo the warrant, I must go home 
and make it out myself.” 

u I have not refused your application, sir,” said 
Marmaduke, perceiving at once that his reputation 
for impartiality was at stake ; “ go into my office, 
Mr. Doolittle, where I will join you, and sign the 
warrant.” 

Judge Temple stopped the remonstrances which 
Elizabeth was about to utter, after Hiram had with- 
drawn, by laying his hand playfully on her mouth, 
and saying — 

“ It is more terrific in sound than frightful in re- 
ality, my child. I suppose that the Leather-stock- 
ing has shot a deer, for the season is nearly over, 
and you say that he was hunting with his dogs, 
when he came so timely to your assistance. But 
it will be only to examine his cabin, and find the 
animal, when you can pay the penalty out of your 
own pocket, Bess. Nothing short of the twelve 
dollars and a half will satisfy this harpy, I perceive ; 
and surely my reputation as a Judge is worth that 
trifle.” 

Elizabeth was a good deal pacified with this as- 
surance, and suffered her father to leave her, to 
fulfil his promise to Hiram. 

When Marmaduke left his office, after executing 
his disagreeable duty, he met Oliver Edwards, 
walking; up the gravelled walk in front of the Man- 
37 * 


438 


THE PIONEERS. 


sion-house, with great strides, and with a face agi- 
tated by some powerful passion. On seeing Judge 
Temple, the youth turned aside, and with a warmth 
in his manner that was not often exhibited to Mar- 
maduke, he cried — 

“ I congratulate you, sir ; from the bottom ot 
my soul I congratulate you, Judge Temple. Oh 1 
it would have been too horrid to have recollected 
for a moment ! I have just left the hut, where, after 
showing me his scalps, old Natty told me of the 
escape of the ladies, as a thing to be mentioned 
last. Indeed, indeed, sir, no words of mine can 
express half of what I have felt” — the youth paused 
a moment as if suddenly recollecting that he was 
overstepping prescribed limits, and concluded with 
a good deal of embarrassment — “ What I have felt 
at this danger to Miss — Grant, and — and your 
daughter, sir.” 

But the heart of Marmaduke was too much soft- 
ened by his recent emotions, to admit of his cavil- 
ling at trifles, and without regarding the confusion 
of the other, he replied — 

“ I thank thee, thank thee, Oliver , as thou say- 
est, it is almost too horrid to be remembered. But 
come, let us hasten to Bess, for Louisa has already 
gone to the Rectory.” 

“ The young man sprung forward, and throwing 
open a door, barely permitted the Judge to precede 
him, when he was in the presence of Elizabeth in 
a moment. 

The cold distance that often crossed the de- 
meanour of the heiress, in her intercourse with Ed- 
wards, was now entirely banished, and two hours 
were passed by the party, in the free unembar- 
rassed, and confiding manner of old and esteemet 
friends. Judge Temple had forgotten the suspi- 
cions engendered during his morning’s ride, and 


THE PIONEERS. 


439 


the youth and maiden conversed, laughed, and 
were sad by turns, as if directed by a common im 
pulse. At length Edwards, after repeating his in 
tention to do so for the third time, left the Man 
sion-house, to go to the Rectory on a similar er- 
rand of friendship. 

During this short period, a scene was passing at 
the hut, that completely frustrated the benevolent 
intentions of Judge Temple in favour of the Lea- 
ther-stocking, and at once destroyed the short- 
lived harmony between the youth and Marmaduke. 

When Hiram Doolittle had obtained his search- 
warrant, his first business was to procure a proper 
officer to see it executed. The sheriff was absent, 
summoning, in person, the grand inquest for the 
county ; the deputy, who resided in the village, 
was riding on the same errand, in a different part 
of the settlement ; and the regular constable of the 
township had been selected for his station from 
motives of charity, being lame of one leg, and an 
invalid. Hiram intended to accompany the officer 
as a spectator, but felt no very strong desire to 
bear the brunt of the battle. It was, however, 
Saturday, and the sun was already turning the 
shadows of the pines towards the east ; on the mor- 
row the conscientious magistrate could not engage 
in such an expedition at the peril of his soul ; and 
long before Monday, the venison, and all vestiges 
of the death of the deer, might be secreted or de- 
stroyed. Happily the lounging form of Billy Kirby 
met his eye, and Hiram, at all times fruitful in si- 
milar expedients, saw his way clear at once. Jo- 
tham, who was associated in the whole business, 
and who had left the mountain in consequence of a 
summons from his coadjutor, but who failed, equally 
with Hiram, in the unfortunate particular of nerve, 


442 


THE PIONEERS. 


without any unnecessary delay. So soon as this 
preliminary was completed, the three worthies left 
the house, and proceeded by the nearest road to- 
wards the hut. They had reached the bank of the 
lake, and were diverging from the route of the 
highway, before Kirby recollected that he was now 
entitled to the privileges of the initiated, and re- 
peated his question, as to the name of the of- 
fender. 

“ Which way, which way, Squire ?” exclaimed 
the hardy wood-chopper ; “ I thought it was to 
sarch a house that you wanted me, not the woods. 
There is nobody lives on this side of the lake, for 
six miles, unless you count the Leather-stocking 
and old John for settlers. Come, tell me the chap’s 
name, and I warrant me that I lead you to his 
clearing by a straighter path than this, for I know 
every sapling that grows within two miles of Tem- 
pletown.” 

u This is the way,” said Hiram, pointing for- 
ward, and quickening his step, as if apprehensive 
that Kirby would desert, “and Bumppo is the 
man.” 

Kirby stopped short, and looked from one of his 
companions to the other in astonishment. He then 
burst into a loud laugh, and cried — 

“ Who ? Leather-stocking ! he may brag of his 
aim and his rifle, for he has the best of both, as 1 
will own myself, for ’sin he shot the pigeon I knock 
under to him y but for a w T restle ! why, I would 
take the divil between my finger and thumb, and 
tie him in a bow-knot around my neck for a Bar- 
celony. Why, Jotham, you could take him down 
yourself, as you’d take down a two years’ pine with 
an axe. The man is seventy, and was never any 
thing particular for strength.” 

“ He’s a deceiving man ” said Hiram, u like all 


THE PIONEERS. 


443 


ihe hunters ; he is stronger than he seems be- 
sides, he has his rifle.” 

“ That for his rifle !” cried Billy, “ he’d no more 
hurt me with his rifle than he’d fly He is a harm- 
less creater, and I must say that I think he has as 
good right to kill deer as any man on the patent. 
It’s his main support, and this is a free country, 
where a man is privileged to follow any calling he 
likes.” 

u According to that doctrine,” said Jotham, “ any 
body may shoot a deer.” 

u This is the man’s calling, I tell you,” returned 
Kirby, u and the law was never made for such as 
him.” 

u The law was made for all,” observed Hiram, 
who began to think that the danger was likely to 
fall to his own share, notwithstanding his manage- 
ment ; “ and the law is particular in noticing par- 
jury.” 

“ See here, Squire Doolittle,” said the reckles9 
wood-chopper, u I don’t kear the valie of a beetle- 
ring for you and your parjury too. But as I have 
come so far, I’ll go down and have a talk with the 
old man, and maybe we’ll fry a steak of the deer 
together.” 

u Well, if you can get in peaceably, so much the 
better,” said the magistrate. u To my notion, strife 
is very unpopular ; I prefar, at all times, clever 
conduct to an ugly temper.” 

u As the whole party moved at a great pace, 
they soon reached the hut, where Hiram thought 
it prudent to halt on the outside of the top of the 
fallen pine, which formed a chevaux-de-fiize, to 
defend the approach to the fortress, on the siae 
next to the village. The delay was but little re- 
lished by Kirby, who clapped his hands to his 
mouth, and gave a loud halloo, that brought the 


444 


THE PIOJVEERS. 


(logs out of their kennel, and, almost at the same 
instant, the scantily covered head of Natty also 
from the door. 

u Lie down, you old fool,” cried the hunter ; 
u do you think there’s more painters about you.” 

u Ha ! Leather-stocking, I’ve an arrand with 
you,” cried Kirby ; u here’s the good people of the 
state have been writing you a small letter, and 
they’ve hired me to ride post.” 

“ What would you have with me, Billy Kirby ?” 
said Natty, stepping across his threshold, and rais- 
ing his hand over his eyes to screen them from the 
rays of the setting sun, while he took a survey of 
his visiter. u I’ve no land to clear ; and heaven 
knows I would set out six trees afore I would cut 
down one. Down, Hector, I say, into your ken- 
nel with ye.” 

“ Would you, old boy ?” roared Billy ; “ then so 
much the better for me. But I must do my arrand. 
Here’s a letter for you, Leather-stocking. If you 
can read it it’s all well, and if you can’t, here’s 
Squire Doolittle at hand, to let you know what it 
means. It seems you mistook the twentieth of Ju- 
ly for the first of August, that’s all.” 

By this time Natty had discovered the lank per- 
son of Hiram, drawn up under the cover of a high 
stump ; and all that was complacent in his manner 
instantly gave way to marked distrust and dissatis- 
faction. He placed his head within the door of his 
hut, and said a few words in an under tone, when 
he again appeared, and continued — 

“ I’ve nothing for ye ; so away, afore the evil 
one tempts me to do you harm. I owe you no 
spite, Billy Kirby, and what for should you trouble 
an old man, who has done you no harm ?” 

Kirby advanced through the top of the pine, to 
within a few feet of the hunter, where he seated 


THE PIONEERS 


445 


himself on the end of a log with great composure, 
and began to examine the nose of Hector, with 
whom he was familiar, from their frequently meet- 
ing in the woods, where he sometimes fed the dog 
from his own basket of provisions. 

“ You’ve outshot me, and I’m not ashamed to 
say it,” said the wood-chopper, “ but I don’t owe 
you a grudge for that, Natty ! though it seems that 
you’ve shot once too often, for the story goes that 
you’ve killed a buck.” 

u I’ve fired but twice to-day, and both times at 
the painters,” returned the Leather-stocking ; 
u see ! here’s the scalps ! I was just going in with 
them to the Judge’s to ask the bounty.” 

While Natty was speaking, he tossed the ears to 
Kirby, who continued playing with them, with a 
careless air, holding them to the dogs, and laughing 
at their movements when they scented the unusual 
game. 

But Hiram, emboldened by the advance of the 
deputed constable, now ventured to approach also, 
and took up the discourse with the air of authority 
that became his commission. His first measure was 
to read the warrant aloud, taking care to give due 
emphasis to the most material parts, and concluding 
with the name of the Judge in very audible and 
distinct tones. 

u Did Marmaduke Temple put his name to that 
bit of paper !” said Natty, shaking his head ; — 
M well, well, that man loves the new w T ays, and his 
betterments, and his lands, afore his own flesh and 
blood. But I won’t mistrust the gal : she has an 
eye like a full-grown buck ! poor thing, she didn’t 
choose her father, and can’t help it. I know but 
little of the law, Mr. Doolittle ; whakis to be done, 
now you have read your commission ?” 

“ Oh ! it’s nothing but form, Natty,” said Hiram, 
3S 


440 


THE PIONEERS. 


endeavouring to assume a friendly aspect “ Let’s 
go in, and talk the thing over in reason. I dare to 
say that the money can be easily found, though I 
conclude, from what passed, that Judge Temple 
will pay it himself.” 

The old hunter had kept a keen eye on the 
movements of his three visiters, from the begin- 
ning, and had maintained his position, just without 
the threshold of his cabin, with a determined man- 
ner, that showed he was not to be easily driven 
from his post. When Hiram drew nigher, as if 
expecting that his proposition would be accepted, 
Natty lifted his hand and motioned for him to re- 
treat. 

“ Haven’t I told you more than once, not to tempt 
me,” he said. “ I trouble no man ; why can’t the 
law leave me to myself? Go back — go back, and 
tell your Judge that he may keep his bounty ; but I 
won’t have his wasty ways brought into my hut.” 

This offer, however, instead of appeasing the cu- 
riosity of Hiram, seemed to inflame it the more ; 
while Kirby cried — 

“Well, that’s fair, Squire ; he forgives the county 
his demand, and the county should forgive him the 
fine ; it’s what I call an even trade, and should be 
concluded on the spot. I like quick dealings, and 
what’s fair ’twixt man and man.” 

“ I demand entrance into this house,” said Hi- 
ram, summoning all the dignity he could muster to 
his assistance, “ in the name of the people, and by 
vartoo of this warrant, and of my office, and with 
this peace-officer.” 

“ Stand back, stand back. Squire, and don’t tempt 
me,” said the Leather-stocking, motioning for him 
to retire, with* great earnestness. 

“ Stop us at your peril,” continued Hiram — 
“ Billy ! Jotham ! close up — I want your testimony .’ 1 


THE PIONKKRS. 


447 


Hiram had mistaken the mild but determined air 
of Natty for submission, and had already put his 
foot on the threshold to enter, when he was 
seized unexpectedly by his shoulders, and hurled 
over the little bank towards the lake, to the dis- 
tance of twenty feet. The suddenness of the move- 
ment, and the unexpected display of strength on 
the part of Natty, created a momentary astonish- 
ment in his invaders, that silenced all noises ; but 
at the next instant Billy Kirby gave vent to his 
mirth in loud peals of laughter that he seemed to 
heave up from his very soul. 

“ Well done, old stub !” he shouted ; u the Squire 
know’d you better than I did. Come, come, here’s 
a green spot ; take it out like men, while Jotham 
and I see fair play.” 

“ William Kirby, I order you to do your duty,” 
cried Hiram, from under the bank ; “ seize that 
man ; I order you to seize him in the name of the 
people.” 

But the Leather-stocking now assumed a more 
threatening attitude ; his rifle was in his hand, and 
its muzzle was directed towards the wood-chop- 
per. 

“ Stand off, I bid ye,” said Natty ; u you know 
my aim, Billy Kirby ; I don’t crave your blood, 
but mine and yourn both shall turn this green grass 
red, afore you put your foot into the hut.” 

While the affair appeared trifling, the wood-chop- 
per seemed disposed to take sides with the weak- 
er party ; but when the fire-arms were introduced, 
his manner very sensibly changed He raised his 
large frame from the log, and, facing the hunter 
with an open front, he replied — 

“ 1 didn’t come here as your enemy. Leather- 
stocking ; but I don’t vallie the hollow piece of 
iron in your hand so much as a broken axe-helve ; 


448 


THE PIONEKRS. 


— so, Squire, say the word, and keep within the 
law, and we’ll soon see who’s the best man of the 
two.” 

But no magistrate was to be seen ! The instant 
the rifle was produced Hiram and Jotham vanish- 
ed ; and when the wood-chopper bent his eyes 
about him in surprise at receiving no answer, he 
discovered their retreating figures, moving towards 
the village, at a rate that sufficiently indicated that 
they had not only calculated the velocity of a rifle- 
bullet, but also its probable range. 

“ You’ve sheared the creaters off,” said Kirby, 
with great contempt expressed on his broad fea- 
tures ; “ but you are not a-going to skear me ; so, 
Mr. Bumppo, down with your gun, or there’ll soon 
be trouble ’twixt us.” 

Natty dropped his rifle, and replied — 

“ I wish you no harm, Billy Kirby ; but I leave 
it to yourself, whether an old man’s hut is to be 
run down by such varmint as them. I won’t deny 
the buck to you, Billy, and you may take the skin 
in, if you please, and show it as a testimony. The 
bounty will pay the fine, and that ought to satisfy 
any man.” 

“ ’Twill, old boy, ’twill,” cried Kirby, every 
ihade of displeasure vanishing from his open brow 
at the peace-offering ; “ throw out the hide, and 
that shall satisfy the law.” 

Natty entered his hut, and soon reappeared, 
bringing with him the desired testimonial, and the 
wood-chopper departed, as thoroughly reconciled 
to the hunter as if nothing had happened. As he 
paced along the margin of the lake, he would burst 
into frequent fits of laughter, while he recollected 
the summerset of Hiram ; and, on the whole, he 
thought the affair a very capital joke. 

Long before Billy reached the village, however, 


THE PIONEERS. 


449 


the news of his danger, and of Natty’s disrespect 
to the law, and of Hiram’s discomfiture, were in 
circulation. A good deal was said about sending 
for the Sheriff*, some hints were given about call- 
ing out the posse comitatus to avenge the insult- 
ed laws ; and many of the citizens were collect- 
ed, deliberating how* to proceed. The arrival of 
Billy with the skin, by removing all grounds for a 
search, changed the complexion of things materi- 
ally. Nothing now 7 remained but to collect the 
fine, and assert the dignity of the people ; all of 
which, it was unanimously agreed, could be done 
as well on the succeeding Monday as on a Saturday 
night, a time kept sacred by a large portion of the 
settlers. Accordingly, all further proceedings were 
suspended for six-and-thirty hours. 

38 * 


CHAPTER XXXI. 


“ And dar’st thou, then, 

To beard the lion in his den, 

The Douglass in his hall 

Marmion 


The commotion was just subsiding, and the in- 
habitants of the village had begun to disperse from 
the little groups they had formed, each retiring to 
his own home, and closing his door after him, with 
the grave air of a man who consulted public feeling 
in his exterior deportment, when Oliver Edwards, 
on his return from the dwelling of Mr. Grant, en 
c ountered the young lawyer, who is known to the 
leade** as Mr. Lippet. There was very little simi- 
larity in the manners or opinions of the two ; but 
as they both belonged to the more intelligent 
class of a very small community, they were, of 
course, known to each other ; and as their meet- 
ing was at a point where silence would have been 
rudeness, the following conversation was the result 
of their interview : 

u A fine evening, Mr. Edwards,” commenced 
the lawyer, whose disinclination to the dialogue 
was, to say the least, very doubtful ; “ we want 
rain sadly ; — that’s the worst of this climate of 
ours, it’s either a drought or a deluge. It’s likely 
you’ve been used to a more equal temperatoore ?” 


THE PIONEERS 


451 

u I am a native of this state,” returned Edwards, 
coldly. 

u Well, I’ve often heerd that point disputed , 
nut it’s so easy to get a man naturalized, that it’s 
of little consequence where he was born. I won- 
der what course the Judge means to take in this 
business of Natty Bumppo ?” 

lt Of Natty Bumppo !” echoed Edwards ; “ to 
what do you allude, sir ?” 

“ -Haven’t you heerd !” exclaimed the other, 
with a look of surprise, so naturally assumed, as 
completely to deceive the other ; u why, it may 
turn out an ugly business. It seems that the old 
man has been out in the hills, and has shot a buck, 
this morning, and that, you know, is a criminal 
matter in the eyes of Judge Temple.” 

“ Oh ! he has, has he !” said Edwards, averting 
his face to conceal the colour that collected in his 
sun-burnt cheek. “ Well, if that be all, he must 
even pay the fine.” 

“ It’s five pounds currency,” said the lawyer ; 
u could Natty muster so much money at once ?” 

u Could he !” cried the youth. “ I am not rich, 
Mr. Lippet ; far from it — I am poor, and I have been 
hoarding my salary for a purpose that lies near my 
heart ; but before that old man should lie one hour 
in a jail, I would spend the last cent to prevent it. 
Besides he has killed two panthers, and the bounty 
will discharge the fine many times over.” 

“ Yes, yes,” said the lawyer, rubbing his hands 
together, with an expression of pleasure that had 
no artifice about it ; “ we shall make it out ; I see 
plainly we shall make it out.” 

“ Make what out, sir ? I must beg an explana- 
tion.” 

“ Why, killing the buck is but a small matter 
compared to what took place this afternoon,” con- 


452 


THE PIONEERS. 


tinued Mr. Lippet with a confidential and friendly 
air, that insensibly won upon the youth, as little as 
he liked the man. “ It seems, that a complaint was 
made of the fact, and the suspicion that there was 
venison in the hut was sworn to, all which is pro- 
vided for in the statoote, when Judge Temple 
granted a search-warrant” — 

“ A search-warrant !” echoed Edwards, in a 
voice of horror, and with a face that should have 
been again averted, to conceal its paleness ; “ and 
how much did they discover ? What did they see ?” 

u They saw old Bumppo’s rifle ; and that is a 
sight which will quiet most men’s curiosity in the 
woods.” 

u Did they ! did they !” shouted Edwards, burst- 
ing into a convulsive laugh ; “ so the old hero beat 
them back ! — he beat them back ! did he ?” 

The lawyer fastened his eyes in astonishment 
on the youth ; but as. his wonder gave way to the 
thoughts that were commonly uppermost in hi? 
mind, he replied — 

“ It’s no laughing matter, let me tell you, sir; 
the forty dollars of bounty, and your six months of 
salary will be much reduced before you can get 
the matter fairly settled. Assaulting a magistrate 
in the execootion of his duty, and menacing a con- 
stable with fire-arms, at the same time, is a pretty 
serious affair, and is punishable with both fine and 
imprisonment.” 

u Imprisonment !” repeated Oliver ; “ imprison 
the Leather-stocking ! no, no, sir ; it would bring 
the old man to his grave. They shall never im- 
prison the Leather-stocking.” 

u Well, Mr. Edwards,” said Lippet, dropping all 
reserve from his manner, “ you are called a curious 
man ; but if you can tell me how a jury is to be 
prevented from finding a verdict of guilty, if this 


THE PIONEERS. 


453 


case comes fairly before them, and the proof is 
clear, I shall acknowledge that you know more 
law than I do, who have had a license in my pock- 
et for three years.” 

By this time the reason of Edwards was getting 
the ascendency of his feelings ; and as he began to 
see the real difficulties in the case, he listened more 
readily to the conversation of the lawyer. The 
ungovernable emotion that escaped the youth, in 
the first moment of his surprise, entirely passed 
away, and although it was still evident that he con- 
tinued to be much agitated by what he had heard, 
he succeeded in yielding a forced attention to the 
advice which the other uttered. 

Notwithstanding the confused state of his mind, 
Oliver soon discovered that most of the expedients 
of the lawyer were grounded in cunning, and plans 
that required a time to execute them in, that nei- 
ther suited his disposition nor his emergencies 
After, however, giving Mr. Lippet to understand 
that he retained him in the event of a trial, an as- 
surance that at once satisfied the lawyer, they 
parted, one taking his course, with a deliberate 
tread, in the direction of the little building that had 
a wooden sign over its door, with “ Chester Lip 
pet, Attorney at' Law,” painted on it ; and the 
other, pacing over the ground, with enormous 
strides, towards the Mansion-house. We shall take 
leave of the attorney for the present, and direct 
the attention of the reader to his client. 

When Edwards entered the hall, whose enor- 
mous doors were opened to the passage of the air 
of a mild evening, he found Benjamin engaged in 
some of his domestic avocations, and in a hurried 
voice inquired where Judge Temple was to be 
found. 

“ Whv, the Judge has just stept into his office, 


454 


THE PIONEERS. 


with that master carpenter, Mister Doolittle ; but 
Miss Lizzy is in that there parlour. I say, Master 
Oliver, we’d like to have had a bad job of that 
panther, or painter’s work — some calls it one, and 
some calls it t’other — but I know little of the beast, 
seeing that it is not of British growth. I said as 
much as that it was in the hills, the last winter ; 
for I heard it moaning on the lake shore one even" 
ing in the fall, when 1 was pulling down from the 
fishing point in the skiff. Had the animal come 
into the open water, where a man could see where 
and how to work his vessel, I would have engaged 
the thing myself ; but looking aloft among the trees 
is all the same to me as standing on the deck of 
one ship, and looking at another vessel’s tops. I 
never can tell one rope from another — ” 

u Well, well,” interrupted Edwards ; “ I must 
see Miss Temple.” 

“ And you shall see her, sir,” said the steward ; 
“ she’s in this here room. Oh ! Lord, Master Ed- 
wards, what a loss she’d have been to the Judge ! 
Dam’me if I know where he would have gotten 
such another daughter ; that is, full grown, d’ye 
see. I say, sir, this Master Bumppo is a worthy 
man, and seems to have a handy way with him, 
with fire-arms and boat-hooks. I’m his friend. 
Master Oliver, and he and you may both set me 
down as the same.” 

“ We may want your friendship, my worthy fel- 
low,” cried Edwards, squeezing his hand convul- 
sively — “ We may want your friendship, in which 
case you shall know it.” 

Without waiting to hear the earnest reply thal 
Benjamin meditated, the youth extricated himself 
from the vigorous grasp of the steward, and en- 
tered the parlour. 

Elizabeth was alone, and still reclining on the 


THE PIONEERS. 


455 


sofa, where we last left her. A hand, which ex- 
ceeded all that the ingenuity of art could model, 
in shape and colour, veiled her eyes ; and the 
maiden was sitting in an abstracted posture, as if 
communing deeply with herself. Struck by the 
attitude and loveliness of the form that met his eye, 
the young man checked his impatience, and ap- 
proached her with respect and caution. 

“ Miss Temple — Miss Temple,” he said, “ I hope 
1 do not intrude ; but I am anxious to see you, if it 
be only for a moment.” 

Elizabeth raised her face, and exhibited her dark 
eyes swimming in moisture ; but a flush crossed 
her cheeks, that resembled the tints which the 
setting sun throws over the neighbouring clouds. 

u Is it you, Edwards ?” she said, with a sweet- 
ness in her voice, and a softness in her air, that 
she often used to her father, but which, from its 
novelty to himself, thrilled on every nerve of the 
youth ; “ how left you our poor Louise ?” 

u She is with her father, happy and grateful,” 
said Oliver. “ I never witnessed more feeling than 
she manifested, when I ventured to express my 
pleasure at her escape. I know not how it was. 
Miss Temple, but when I first heard of your hor- 
rid situation, my feelings were too powerful for 
utterance ; and I did not properly find my tongue, 
until the walk to Mr. Grant’s had given me time 
to collect myself. I believe — I do believe. I ac- 
quitted myself better there, for Miss Grant even 
wept at my silly speeches.” 

For a moment Elizabeth did not reply, but again 
veiled her eyes with her hand. The feeling that 
caused the action, however, soon passed away, and, 
raising her face again to his gaze, she continued, 
with a smile — 

“ Your friend, the Leather-stocking, has now 


THE PIONEERS. 


458 

ministers of justice are to be opposed by men arm- 
ed with 1 ifles ? Is it for this that I have tamed the 
wilderness ?” 

“ Had you tamed the beasts that so lately threat- 
ened the life of Miss Temple, sir, your arguments 
would apply better.” 

u Edwards !” exclaimed Elizabeth 

“ Peace, my child,” interrupted her father ; — 
the youth is unjust ; but I have not given him 
cause. I overlook thy remark, Oliver, for I know 
thee to be the friend of Natty, and thy zeal in his 
behalf has overcome thy discretion.” 

u Yes, he is my friend,” cried Edwards, u and I 
glory in the title. He is simple, unlettered, even 
ignorant ; prejudiced, perhaps, though I feel that 
his opinion of the world is too true ; but he has a 
heart, Judge Temple, that would atone for a thou- 
sand faults; he knows his friends, and never de- 
serts them, even if it be his dog.” 

“ This is a good character, Mr. Edwards,” re- 
turned Marmaduke, mildly ; u but I have never 
been so fortunate as to secure his esteem, for to 
me he has been uniformly repulsive ; yet I have 
endured it, as an old man’s whim. However, when 
he appears before me, as his judge, he shall find 
that his former conduct shall not aggravate, any 
more than his recent services shall extenuate his 
crime.” 

u Crime !” echoed Edwards ; u is it a crime to 
drive a prying miscreant from his door ? Crime ! 
Oh ! no, sir ; if there be a criminal involved in this 
affair, it is not he.” 

“ And who may it be, sir ?” asked Judge Tem- 
ple, facing the agitated youth, with his fine, manty 
features settled to then usual composure. 

This appeal was more than the young man could 
bear. Hitherto he had been deeply^gitated by 


THE PIONEERS. 


459 


Jus emotions ; but now the volcano burst its boun- 
daries. 

“ Who ! and this to me !” he cried ; “ ask youi 
own conscience, Judge Temple. Walk to that 
door, sir, and look out upon the valley, that placid 
lake, and those dusky mountains, and say to your 
own heart, if heart you have, whence came these 
riches, this vale, those hills, and why am I their 
owner ? I should think, sir, that the appearance 
of Mohegan and the Leather-stocking, stalking 
through the country, impoverished and forlorn, 
would wither your sight.” 

Marmaduke heard this burst of passion, at first 
with deep amazement ; but when the youth had 
ended, he beckoned to his impatient daughter for 
silence, and replied — 

“ Oliver Edwards, thou forgettest in whose pre- 
sence thou standest. I have heard, young man, 
that thou claimest descent from the native owners 
of the soil ; but surely thy education has been 
given thee to no effect, if it has not taught thee 
the validity of the claims that have transferred the 
title to the whites. These lands are mine by the 
very grants of thy ancestry, if thou art so descend- 
ed ; and I appeal to Heaven, for a testimony of the 
uses I have put them to. After this language, we 
must separate. I have too long sheltered thee in 
my dwelling; but the time has arrived when 
thou must quit it. Come to my office, and I will 
discharge the debt I owe thee. Neither shall thy 
present intemperate language mar thy future for- 
tunes, if thou wilt hearken to the advice of one 
who is by many years thy senior.” 

The ungoverning feeling that caused the vio- 
lence of the youth had' passed away, and he stood 
gazing after the retiring figure of Marmaduke, with 
a vacancy in his eye, that denoted the absence of 


454 


THE PIONEERS. 


with that master carpenter, Mister Doolittle ; bul 
Miss Lizzy is in that there parlour. I say, Master 
Oliver, we’d like to have had a bad job of that 
panther, or painter’s work — some calls it one, and 
some calls it t’other — but I know little of the beast, 
seeing that it is not of British growth. I said as 
much as that it was in the hills, the last winter ; 
for I heard it moaning on the lake shore one even- 
ing in the fall, when 1 was pulling down from the 
fishing point in the skiff. Had the animal come 
into the open water, where a man could see where 
and how to work his vessel, I would have engaged 
the thing myself ; but looking aloft among the trees 
is all the same to me as standing on the deck of 
one ship, and looking at another vessel’s tops. I 
never can tell one rope from another — ” 

u Well, well,” interrupted Edwards ; “ I must 
see Miss Temple.” 

“ And you shall see her, sir,” said the steward ; 
“ she’s in this here room. Oh ! Lord, Master Ed- 
wards, what a loss she’d have been to the Judge ! 
Dam’me if I know where he would have gotten 
such another daughter ; that is, full grown, d’ye, 
see. I say, sir, this Master Bumppo is a worthy 
man, and seems to have a handy way with him, 
with fire-arms and boat-hooks. I’m his friend. 
Master Oliver, and he and you may both set me 
down as the same.” 

“We may want your friendship, my worthy fel- 
low,” cried Edwards, squeezing his hand convul- 
sively — “ We may want your friendship, in which 
case you shall know it.” 

Without waiting to hear the earnest reply thal 
Benjamin meditated, the youth extricated himself 
from the vigorous grasp of the steward, and en- 
tered the parlour. 

Elizabeth was alone, and still reclining on the 


THE PIONEERS. 


455 


sofa, where we last left her. A hand, which ex- 
ceeded all that the ingenuity of art could model, 
in shape and colour, veiled her eyes ; and the 
maiden was sitting in an abstracted posture, as if 
communing deeply with herself. Struck by the 
attitude and loveliness of the form that met his eye, 
the young man checked his impatience, and ap- 
proached her with respect and caution. 

“ Miss Temple — Miss Temple,” he said, a I hope 
1 do not intrude ; but 1 am anxious to see you, if it 
be only for a moment.” 

Elizabeth raised her face, and exhibited her dark 
eyes swimming in moisture ; but a flush crossed 
her cheeks, that resembled the tints which the 
setting sun throws over the neighbouring clouds. 

u Is it you, Edwards ?” she said, with a sweet- 
ness in her voice, and a softness in her air, that 
she often used to her father, but which, from its 
novelty to himself, thrilled on every nerve of the 
youth ; u how left you our poor Louise ?” 

“ She is with her father, happy and grateful,” 
said Oliver. “ I never witnessed more feeling than 
she manifested, when I ventured to express my 
pleasure at her escape. I know not how it was. 
Miss Temple, but when I first heard of your hor- 
rid situation, my feelings were too powerful for 
utterance ; and I did not properly find my tongue, 
until the walk to Mr. Grant’s had given me time 
to collect myself. I believe — I do believe, I ac- 
quitted myself better there, for Miss Grant even 
wept at my silly speeches.” 

For a moment Elizabeth did not reply, but again 
veiled her eyes with her hand. The feeling that 
caused the action, however, soon passed away, and, 
raising her face again to his gaze, she continued, 
with a smile — 

“ Your friend, the Leather-slocking, has now 


450 


THE PIONEERS. 


become my friend, Edwards ; I have been thinking 
how I can best serve him ; perhaps you, who know 
his habits and his wants so well, can tell me 51 

“lean,” cried the youth, with an impetuosity 
that startled the maiden — “ I can, and may Heaven 
reward you for the wish. Natty has been so im- 
prudent as to forget the law, and has this day killed 
a deer. Nay, I believe I must share in the crime 
and the penalty, for I was an accomplice through- 
out. A complaint has been made to your father, 
and he has granted a search — — ” 

“ I know it all,” interrupted Elizabeth, beckon- 
ing with her hand for silence ; u I know it — I know 
it all. The forms of the law must be complied 
with, however ; the search must be made, the deer 
found, and the penalty paid. But I must retort 
jour own question. Have you lived so long in 
our family, not to know us ? Look at me, Oliver 
Edwards. Do I appear like the girl who would 
permit the man that has just saved her life to linger 
in a jail, for so small a sum as this fine ? No, no, 
sir ; my father is a Judge, but he is a man and a 
Christian. It is all understood, and no harm shall 
follow.” 

“ What a load of apprehension do your declara- 
tions remove !” exclaimed Edwards. “ He shall 
not be disturbed again ! your father will protect 
him ! I have your assurance, Miss Temple, that he 
will, and I must believe it.” 

u You may have his own, Mr. Edwards,” re- 
turned Elizabeth, “ for here he comes to make it.” 

But the appearance of Marmaduke, who entered 
the apartment, contradicted the flattering anticipa- 
tions of his daughter. His brow was contracted 
with a look of care, and his manner was disturbed. 
Neither Elizabeth nor the youth spoke ; but the 


THE PIONEERS. 


457 


Judge was allowed to pace once or twice across 
the room without interruption, when he cried — 

“ Our plans are defeated, girl ; the obstinacy of 
Ihe Leather-stocking has brought down the indig- 
nation of the law on his devoted head, and it is out 
of my power to avert it.” 

u How ? in what manner ?” cried Elizabeth ; 

u the fine is nothing ; surely ” 

“ I did not — I could not anticipate that an old, a 
friendless man like him, would dare to oppose the 
officers of justice,” interrupted the Judge ; “ I sup- 
posed that he would submit to the search, when 
the fine could have been paid, and the law would 
have been appeased ; but now he will have to meet 
its rigour.” 

“ And what must the punishment be, sir ?” ask- 
ed Edwards, in an agitated voice. 

Marmaduke turned quickly to the spot where 
the youth had withdrawn, and exclaimed — 

u You here ! I did not observe you. I know not 
what it will be, sir ; it is not usual for a Judge to 
decide, until he has heard the testimony, and the 
jury have convicted. Of one thing, however, you 
may be assured, Mr. Edwards ; it shall be what- 
ever the law. demands, notwithstanding any mo 
mentary weakness I may have exhibited, because 
the luckless man has been of such eminent service 
to my daughter.” 

M No one, I believe, doubts the sense of justice 
which Judge Temple entertains !” returned Ed- 
wards, bitterly. “ But let us converse calmly, sir. 
Will not the years, the habits, nay, the ignorance 
of my old friend, avail him any thing against such 
a charge ?” 

“ Ought they ? I may ask,” returned Marmaduke. 
“ They may extenuate, but can they acquit ? Would 
any societv be tolerable, young man, where the 

39 


458 


THE PIONEERS. 


ministers of justice are to be opposed by men arm- 
ed with i ifles ? Is it for this that I have tamed the 
wilderness ?” 

“ Had you tamed the beasts that so lately threat- 
ened the life of Miss Temple, sir, your arguments 
would apply better.” 

“ Edwards !” exclaimed Elizabeth 

“ Peace, my child,” interrupted her father ; — 

the youth is unjust ; but I have not given him 
cause. I overlook thy remark, Oliver, for I know 
thee to be the friend of Natty, and thy zeal in his 
behalf has overcome thy discretion.” 

“ Yes, he is my friend,” cried Edwards, u and l 
glory in the title. He is simple, unlettered, even 
ignorant ; prejudiced, perhaps, though I feel that 
his opinion of the world is too true ; but he has a 
heart, Judge Temple, that would atone for a thou- 
sand faults ; he knows his friends, and never de- 
serts them, even if it be his dog.” 

“ This is a good character, Mr. Edwards,” re- 
turned Marmaduke, mildly ; “ but 1 have never 
been so fortunate as to secure his esteem, for to 
me he has been uniformly repulsive ; yet I have 
endured it, as an old man’s whim. However, when 
he appears before me, as his judge, he shall find 
that his former conduct shall not aggravate, any 
more than his recent services shall extenuate his 
crime.” 

“ Crime !” echoed Edwards ; u is d a crime to 
drive a prying miscreant from his door ? Crime ! 
Oh ! no, sir ; if there be a criminal involved in this 
affair, it is not he.” 

“ And who may it be, sir ?” asked Judge Tem- 
ple, facing the agitated youth, with his fine, manly 
features settled to then usual composure. 

This appeal was more than the young man could 
bear. Hitherto he had been deeply"agitated by 


THE PIONEERS. 


459 


Jus emotions ; but now the volcano burst its boun- 
daries. 

“ Who ! and this to me !” he cried ; “ ask youi 
own conscience, Judge Temple. Walk to that 
door, sir, and look out upon the valley, that placid 
lake, and those dusky mountains, and say to your 
own heart, if heart you have, whence came these 
riches, this vale, those hills, and why am I their 
owner ? I should think, sir, that the appearance 
of Mohegan and the Leather-stocking, stalking 
through the country, impoverished and forlorn, 
would wither your sight.” 

Marmaduke heard this burst of passion, at first 
with deep amazement ; but when the youth had 
ended, he beckoned to his impatient daughter for 
silence, and replied — 

“ Oliver Edwards, thou forgettest in whose pre- 
sence thou standest. I have heard, young man, 
that thou claimest descent from the native owners 
of the soil ; but surely thy education has been 
given thee to no effect, if it has not taught thee 
the validity of the claims that have transferred the 
title to the whites. These lands are mine by the 
very grants of thy ancestry, if thou art so descend- 
ed ; and I appeal to Heaven, for a testimony of the 
uses I have put them to. After this language, we 
must separate. I have too long sheltered thee in 
my dwelling; but the time has arrived when 
thou must quit it. Come to my office, and I will 
discharge the debt I owe thee. Neither shall thy 
present intemperate language mar thy future for- 
tunes, if thou wilt hearken to the advice of one 
who is by many years thy senior.” 

The ungoverning feeling that caused the vio- 
lence of the youth had' passed away, and he stood 
gazing after the retiring figure of Marmaduke, with 
a vacancy in his eye, that denoted the absence of 


460 


THE PIONEERS. 


his mind. At length he recollected ]^imself, and. 
turning his head slowly around the apaiiment, he 
beheld Elizabeth, still seated on the sofa, but with 
her head dropped on her bosom, and her face again 
concealed by her hands. 

“ Miss Temple,” he said — all violence had left 
his manner — “ Miss Temple — I have forgotten my- 
self — forgotten you. You have heard what your 
father has decreed, and this night I leave here. 
With you I would part in amity.” 

Elizabeth slowly raised her face, across which a 
momentary expression of sadness stole ; but as she 
left her seat, her dark eyes lighted with their usual 
fire, her cheek flushed to burning, and her whole 
air seemed to belong to another nature. 

“ I forgive you, Edwards, and my father will 
forgive you,” she said, when she reached the door. 
u You do not know us, but the time may come, 
when your opinions shall change” — 

M Of you ! never !” interrupted the youth : 

u j » 

“ I would speak, sir, and not listen. There is 
something in this affair that I do not yet compre- 
hend ; but tell the Leather-stocking he has friends 
as well as judges in us. Do not let the old man ex- 
perience unnecessary uneasiness at this rupture. It 
is impossible that you could increase his claims 
here ; neither shall they be diminished by any 
thing you have said. Mr. Edwards, I wish you 
happiness, and warmer friends.” 

The youth would have spoken, but she vanished 
from the door so rapidly, that when he reached 
the hall her light form was no where to be seen. 
He paused a moment, in a stupor, and then, rush- 
ing from the house, instead of following Marma- 
duke to his “ office,” he took his way directly foi 
the cabin of the hunters. 


CHAPTER XXXII. 


* 


“ Who measured earth, described the starry sphere*, 
And traced the long records of luiar years.” 

Pope 


Richard did not return from the exercise of his 
official duties, until late in the evening of the fol- 
lowing day. It had been one portion of his busi- 
ness to superintend the arrest of part of a gang of 
counterfeiters, that had, even at that early period, 
buried themselves in the woods, to manufacture 
their base coin, which they afterward circulated 
from one end of the Union to the other. The ex- 
pedition had been completely successful, and about 
midnight the Sheriff entered the village, at the 
head of a posse of* deputies and constables, in the 
centre of whom rode, pinioned, four of the male- 
factors. At the gate of the Mansion-house they 
separated, Mr. Jones directing his assistants to pro- 
ceed with their charge to the county-jail, while he 
pursued his own way up the gravelled walk, with 
that kind of self-satisfaction that a man of his or- 
ganization would feel, who had, really, for once, 
done a very clever thing. 

u Holla ! Aggy !” shouted the Sheriff, when he 
reached the door; u where are you, you black 
dog ? will you keep me here in the dark all night ? 
Holla! Aggy 1 Brave! Brave! hoy, hoy- -where 
39 * 


462 


THE PIONEERS. 


have you got to, Brave ? Off his watch ! Ever} 
body is asleep but myself! poor I must keep my 
eyes open, that others may sleep in safety. Brave ! 
Brave ! Well, I will say this for the dog, lazy as 
he’s grown, that it is the first time I ever knew 
him let any one come to the door after dark, with- 
out having a smell to know whether it was an ho- 
nest man or not. He could tell by his nose, al- 
most as well as I could myself by looking at them. 
Holla ! you Agamemnon ! where are you ? Oh ! 
here comes the dog at last.” 

By this time the Sheriff had dismounted, and ob- 
served a form, which he supposed to be that of 
Brave, slowly creeping out of the kennel ; when, 
to his astonishment, it reaied itself on two legs in- 
stead of four, and he was able to dfstinguish, by 
the star-light, the curly head and dark visage of 
the negro. 

“ Ha ! what the devil are you doing there, you, 
black rascal ?” he cried ; “ is it not hot enough for 
your Guinea blood in the house, this warm night, 
but you must drive out the poor dog and sleep in 
his straw ?” 

By this time the boy was quite awake, and, with 
a blubbering whine, he attempted to reply to his 
master. 

u Oh ! masser Richard ! masser Richard ! such 
a ting ! such a ting ! I neber tink a could ’appen ? 
neber tink he die ! Oh, Lor-a-gor ! an’t bury — 
keep ’em till masser Richard get back — got a grabe 
dug — ” 

Here the feelings of the negro completely got the 
mastery, and instead of making any intelligible ex- 
planation of the causes of his grief, he blubbered 
aloud. 

“ Eh ! what ! buried ! grave ! dead !” exclaim- 
ed Richard, with a tremour in his voice ; “ nothing 


THE PIONEERS 


403 


serious ? Nothing has happened to Benjamin, I 
hope ? I know he has been bilious ; but I gave 
him — ” 

u Oh ! worser ’an a dat ! worser ’an a dat !” 
sobbed the negro. u Oh ! de Lor ! Miss ’Lizzy 
ana Miss Grant — walk — mountain — poor Bravy ! 
— kill a lady — painter — Oh ! Lor, Lor ! — Natty 
Bumppo — tear he troat all open — come a see, mas- 
ser Richard — such a booful copse — here he be — 
here he be.” 

As all this was perfectly inexplicable to the 
Sheriff, he was very glad to wait patiently until 
the black brought a lantern from the kitchen, when 
he followed Aggy to the kennel, where he beheld 
poor Brave, indeed, lying in his blood, stiff and 
cold, but decently covered with the great-coat of 
the negro. He was on the point of demanding an 
explanation ; but the grief of the black, who had 
fallen asleep on his voluntary watch, having burst 
out afresh on his waking, utterly disqualified the 
lad from giving one. Luckily, at this moment the 
principal door of the house opened, and the coarse 
features of Benjamin were thrust over the thresh- 
old, with a candle elevated above them, shedding 
its dim rays around in such a manner as to exhibit 
the lights and shadows of his countenance. Ri- 
chard threw his bridle to the black, and bidding 
him look to the horse, he entered the hall. 

“ What is the meaning of the dead dog ?” he 
cried. u Where is Miss Temple ?” 

Benjamin made one of his square gestures, with 
the thumb of his left hand pointing over his right 
shoulder, as he answered — 

“ Turned in.” 

“ Judge Temple — where is he ?” 

w In his birth.” 


404 


THE PIONEERS. 


<c But explain ; why is Brave dead ? and what 
is the cause of Aggy’s grief?” 

“ Why, it’s all down, Squire,” said Benjamin, 
pointing to a slate that lay on the table, by the side 
of a mug of toddy, a short pipe, in which the to- 
bacco was yet burning, and a Prayer-book. 

Among the other pursuits of Richard, it was a 
passion to keep a register of all passing events ; 
and his diary, which was written in the manner of 
a journal, or log-book, embraced not only such cir- 
cumstances as affected himself, but observations on 
the weather, and all the occurrences of the family, 
and frequently of the village. Since his appoint- 
ment to the office of Sheriff, and his consequent 
absences from home, he had employed Benjamin 
to make memoranda, on a slate, of whatever might 
be thought worth remembering, which, on his re- 
turn, were regularly transferred to the journal, 
with proper notations of the time, manner, and 
other little particulars. There was, to be sure, 
one material objection to the clerkship of Benja- 
min, which the ingenuity of no one but Richard 
could have overcome. The steward read nothing 
but his Prayer-book, and that only in particular 
parts, and by the aid of a good deal of spelling, und 
some misnomers ; but he could not form a single 
letter with a pen. This would have been an in 
superable bar to journalizing, with most men ; buf 
Richard invented a kind of hieroglyph ical charac- 
ter, which was intended to note all the ordinary 
occurrences of a day, such as how the wind blew, 
whether the sun shone, or whether it lained, the 
hours, &c. ; and for the extraordinaiy, after giving 
certain elementary lectures on the subject, the 
Sheriff was obliged to trust to the /ngenuity of the 
Major-domo The reader will at once perceivp, 


THE PIONEERS. 


465 


that it was to this chronicle that Benjamin pointed, 
instead of directly answering the Sheriff ’s interro- 
gatory. 

When Mr. Jones had drunk a glass of the toddy, 
he brought forth, from its secret place, his proper 
journal, and, seating himself by the table, he pre- 
pared to tranfer the contents of the slate to the pa- 
per, at the same time that he appeased his curiosi- 
ty. Benjamin laid one hand on the back of the 
Sheriff’s chair, in a familiar manner, while he kept 
the other at liberty, to make use of a fore-finger, 
that was bent like some of his own characters, as 
an index to point out his meaning. 

The first thing referred to by the Sheriff was the 
diagram of a compass, that was cut in one corner of 
the slate for permanent use. The cardinal points 
were plainly marked on it, and all the usual divi- 
sions were indicated in such a manner, that no man 
who had ever steered a ship could mistake them. 

“ Oh !” said the Sheriff, settling himself down 
comfortably in his chair — “ you’d the wind south- 
east, I see, all last night ; I thought it would have 
blown up rain.” 

“ Devil the drop, sir,” said Benjamin ; “ I be- 
lieve that the scuttle-butt up aloft is emptied, for 
there hasn’t so much water fell in the county, for 
the last three weeks, as would float Indian John’s 
canoe, and that draws just one inch nothing, light.” 

“ Well, but didn’t the wind change here this 
morning ? there was a change where I was.” 

“ To be sure it did, Squire ; and haven’t I log- 
ged it as a shift of mind.” 

“ I don’t see where, Benjamin ; I ” 

“ Don’t see !” interrupted the steward, a little 
crustily ; “ an’t there a mark ag’in east-and-by- 
nothe-half-nothe, with sum’mat like a rising sun at 
flic end of.it, to show ’twas in the morning watch 


466 


THE PIONEERS. 


u Yes, yes, that is very legible ; but where is the 
change nqfed ?” 

“ Where ! why doesn’t it see this here tea-ket- 
tle, with a mark run from the spout straight, or 
mayhap a little crooked or so, into west-and-by- 
southe-half-southe ? now I calls this a shift of wind, 
Squire. Well, do you see this here boar’s head 
that you made for me, along side of the coin 
pass ” 

“ Ay, ay — Boreas — I see. Why you’ve drawn 
lines from its mouth, extending from one of your 
marks to the other.” 

“ It’s no fault of mine, Squire Dickens ; ’tis your 
d — d climate. The wind has been at all them there 
marks this very day ; and that’s all round the com- 
pass, except a little matter of an Irishman’s hi$ri~ 
cane at meridium, which you’ll find marked righi 
up and down. Now, I’ve known a sow-wester 
blow for three weeks, in the Channel, with a clean 
drizzle, in which you might wash your face and 
hands, without the trouble of hauling in water from 
along side.” 

“ Very well, Benjamin,” said the Sheriff, writing 
in his journal ; “ I believe I have caught the idea. 
Oh ! here’s a cloud over the rising sun ; — so you 
had it hazy in the morning ?” 

“ Ay, ay, sir,” said Benjamin. 

“ Ah ! it’s Sunday, and here are the marks for 
the length of the sermon — one, two, three, four — 
What ! did Mr. Grant preach forty minutes ?” 

“ Ay, sumhnat like it ; it was a good half-hour by 
my own glass, and then there was the time lost in 
turning it, and some little allowance for leeway in 
not being over smart about it.” 

“ But, Benjamin, this is as long as a Presbyteri- 
an sermon ; you never could have been ten minutes 
in turning the glass ! ” 


THE PIONEERS. 


4tT> 


kC Why, do you see, Squire, the parson was very 
solemn, and 1 just closed my eyes in order to think 
the better with myself, just the same as you’d pul 
in the dead-lights to make all snug, and when I 
opened them ag’in I found the congregation weie 
getting under weigh for ^ome, so I calculated the 
ten minutes would cover the lee-way after the 
glass was out. It was only some such matter as a 
cat’s nap.” 

“ Oh, ho ! master Benjamin, you were asleep, 
were you ! but I’ll set down no such slander against 
an orthodox divine.” Richard wrote tw r enty-nine 
minutes in his journal, and continued — “ Why, 
what’s this you’ve got opposite ten o’clock, A. M. ? 
a full moon ! had you a moon visible by day ! I 
have heard of such portents before now, but — eh ! 
what’s this along side of it ? an hour-glass ?” 

“ That !” said Benjamin, looking coolly over the 
Sheriff’s shoulder, and rolling the tobacco about in 
his mouth with a jocular air ; “ why, that’s a small 
matter of my own. It’s no moon, Squire, but only 
Betty Hollister’s face ; for, d’ye see, sir, hearing 
all the same as if she had got up a new cargo of 
Jamaiky from the river, I called in as I was going 
to the church this morning — ten A. M. was it ? — 
just the time — and tried a glass ; and so I logged it, 
to put me in mind of calling to pay her like an 
honest man.” 

“ That was it, was it ?” said the Sheriff, with 
some displeasure at this innovation on his memo- 
randa : “ and could you not make a better glass 
than this ? it looks like a death’s head and an hour- 
glass.” 

“ Why, as I liked the stuff, Squire,” returned 
the steward, “ I turned in, homeward bound, and 
took t’other glass, which I set down at the bottom 
of the first, and that gives the thing the shape it 


468 


THE PIONEERS. 


has. But as I was there ag’in to-night, and paid 
for the three at once, your honour may as well run 
the sponge over the whole business.” 

“ I will buy you a slate for your own affairs, 
Benjamin,” said the Sheriff ; “ for I don’t like to 
have the journal marked^over in this manner.” 

“ You needn’t — you needn’t, Squire ; for, see- 
ing that I was likely to trade often with the wo- 
man while this barrel lasted, I’ve opened a fair ac- 
count with Betty, and she keeps her marks on the 
back of her bar door, and I keeps the tally on this 
here bit of a stick.” 

As Benjamin concluded he produced a piece of 
wood, on which five very honest, large notches 
were apparent. The Sheriff cast his eyes on this 
new ledger, for a moment, and continued — 

“ What have we here ! Saturday, two P. M. — 
why here’s a whole family piece ! two wine glasses 
up-side-down !” 

“ That’s two women ; the one this a- way is Miss 
’Lizzy, arid t’other is the parson’s young’un.” 

“ Cousin Bess and Miss Grant !” exclaimed the 
Sheriff, in amazement ; u why, what have they to 
do with my journal ?” 

“ They’d enough to do to get out of the jaws of 
that there painter, or panther,” said the immovea- 
ble steward. “This here thingum’y, Squire, that 
maybe looks sum’mat like a rat, is the beast, d’ye 
see ; and this here t’other thing, keel uppermost, 
is poor old Brave, who died nobly, all the same as 
an admiral fighting for his king and country ; and 
that there — ” 

“ Scarecrow,” interrupted Richard. 

“ Ay, mayhap it do look a little wild or so,” con- 
tinued the steward ; u but to my judgment, Squire, 
it’s the best imager I’ve made, seeing it’s most like 
the man himself ; —well, that’s Natty Bumppo, 


THE PIONEERS. 


40U 

who shot this here painter, that killed that there 
dog, who would have eaten or done worse to them 
here young ladies.” 

“ And what the devil does all this mean ?” cried 
Richard, impatiently. 

“ Mean !” echoed Benjamin ; M it’s as true as 
(lie Boadishey’s log-book” — 

He was interrupted by the sheriff, who put a few 
direct questions to him, that obtained more intelli- 
gible answers, by which means he became possess- 
ed of a tolerably correct idea of the truth. When 
the wonder, and, we must do Richard the justice 
to say, the feelings also, that were created by this 
narrative, had in some degree subsided, the She- 
riff turned his eyes again on his journal, where 
more inexplicable hieroglyphics met his view. 

“ What have we here !” he cried ; “ two men 
boxing ! has there been a breach of the peace ? ah ! 
that’s the way, the moment my back is turned — ” 

“ That’s the Judge and young Master Edwards,” 
interrupted the steward, very cavalierly. 

“ How ! ’duke fighting with Oliver ! what the 
devil has got into you all ? more things have hap- 
pened within the last thirty-six hours than in the 
preceding six months.” 

“ Yes, it’s so indeed, Squire,” returned the 
steward ; “ I’ve known a smart chase, and a fight 
at the tail of it, where less has been logged than 
I’ve got on that there slate. Howsomnever, they 
didn’t come to facers, only passed a little jaw fore 
and aft.” 

“ Explain ! explain !” cried Richard — “ it was 
about the mines, ha ! — ay, ay, I see it, I see it , 
here is a man, with a pick on his shoulder. So 
you heard it all, Benjamin ?” 

u Why, yes, it was about their minds, I believe, 
Squire,” returned the steward ; “ and by what I 
40 


470 


THE PIONEERS. 


ean learn, they spoke them pretty plainly to one 
mother. Indeed I may say that I overheard a 
small matter of it myself, seeing that the windows 
was open, and I hard by. But this here is no pick, 
but an anchor on a man’s shoulder ; and here’s the 
other fluke down his back, maybe a little too close, 
which signifies that the lad has got under wav and 
left his moorings.” 

“ Has Edwards left the house ?” demanded Ri- 
chard, peremptorily. 

“ He has,” said the steward. 

Richard pursued this advantage, and, after a 
long and close examination, he succeeded in get- 
ting out of Benjamin all that he knew, not only 
concerning the misunderstanding, but of the at- 
tempt to search the hut, and Hiram’s discomfiture. 
The Sheriff* was no sooner possessed of these facts, 
which Benjamin related with all possible tender- 
ness to the Leather-stocking, than, snatching up his 
hat, and bidding the astonished steward to secure 
the doors and go to his bed, he left the house. 

For at least five minutes after Richard disap- 
peared, Benjamin stood with his arms a-kimbo, and 
his eyes fastened on the door ; when, having col- 
lected his astonished faculties, he prepared to ex- 
ecute the orders he had received. 

It has been already said that the “ court of com- 
mon pleas and general sessions of the peace,” or, 
as it is commonly called, the “ county court,” over 
which Judge Temple presided, held one of its 
stated sessions on the following morning. The at- 
tendants of Richard were officers who had come 
to the village as much to discharge their usual du- 
ties at this court, as to escort the prisoners ; and 
the Sheriff* knew their habits too well, not to feel 
confident he should find most, if not all of them in 
the public room of the jail, discussing the qualities 


THE PIONEERS. 


471 


of the keeper’s liquors. Accordingly he held his 
way through the silent streets of the village, direct- 
ly to the small and insecure building, that contain- 
ed all the unfortunate debtors, and some of the cri- 
minals of the county, and where justice was ad 
ministered to such unwary applicants as were so 
silly as to throw away two dollars, in order to ob- 
tain one from their neighbours. The arrival of 
four malefactors in the custody of a dozen officers, 
was an event, at that day, in Templeton ; and 
when the Sheriff reached the jail, he found every 
indication that his subordinates intended to make a 
night of it. 

The nod of the Sheriff brought two of his depu- 
ties to the door, who in their turn drew off six or 
seven of the constables. With this force Richard 
led the way through the village, towards the bank 
of the lake, undisturbed by any noise, except the 
barking of one or two curs, who were alarmed by 
the measured tread of the party, and by the low 
murmurs that run through their own numbers, as 
a few cautious questions and answers were ex- 
changed, relative to the object of their expedition. 
When they had crossed the little bridge of hewn 
logs that was thrown over the Susquehanna, they 
left the highway, and struck into that field which 
had been the scene of the victory over the pigeons. 
From this they followed their leader into the low 
bushes of pines and chestnuts which had sprung 
up along the shores of the lake, where the plough 
had not succeeded the fall of the trees, and soon 
entered the deep forest itself. Here Richard paus- 
ed, and collected his troop around him. 

“ I have required your assistance, my friends,” 
he said, in a low voice, “ in order to arrest Na - 
thaniel Bumppo, commonly called the Leather- 
stocking. He has assaulted a magistrate, and re- 


472 


THE PIONEERS. 


sisted the execution of a search-warrant, by threat 
ening the life of a constable with his rifle. In 
short, my friends, he has set an example of rebel- 
lion to the laws, and has become a kind of out-law. 
He is suspected of other misdemeanors and offences 
against private rights ; and I have this night taken 
on myself, by the virtue of my office of Sheriff, to 
arrest the said Bumppo, and bring him to the coun- 
ty jail, that he may be present and forthcoming to 
answer to tnese heavy charges before the court to- 
morrow morning. In executing this duty, my 
friends and fellow-citizens, you are to use courage 
and discretion. Courage, that you may not be 
daunted by any lawless attempts that this man may 
make with his rifle and his dogs, to oppose you ; 
and discretion, which here means caution and pru- 
dence, that he may not escape from this sudden at- 
tack — and, for other good reasons that I need not 
mention. You will form yourselves in a complete 
circle around his hut, and at the word c advance,’ 
called aloud by me, you will rush forward, and, 
without giving the criminal time for deliberation, 
enter his dwelling by force, and make him your 
prisoner. Spread yourselves for this purpose, 
while I shall descend to the shore with a deputy, 
to take charge of that point ; and all communica- 
tions must be made directly to me, under the bank 
in front of the hut, where I shall station myself, 
and remain in order to receive them.” 

This speech, which Richard had been studying 
during his walk, had the effect that all similar per- 
formances produce, of bringing the dangers of the 
expedition immediately before the eyes of his forces. 
The men divided, some plunging deeper into the 
forest, in older to gain then- stations without giving 
an alarm, and others continuing to advance, at a 
gait that would allow the whole party to get in or 


THE PIONEERS. 


4?.u 

der ; but all devising the best plans to repulse the 
attack of a dog, or escape a rifle-bullet. It was a 
moment of dread expectation and interest. 

When the Sheriff thought time enough had 
elapsed for the different divisions of his force to ar- 
rive at their stations, he raised his voice in the 
silence of the forest, and shouted the watch- word. 
The sounds played among the arched branches of 
the trees in hollow cadences ; but when the last 
sinking tone was lost on the ear, in place of the 
expected howls of the dogs, no other noises were 
returned but the crackling of torn branches and 
dried sticks, as they yielded before the advancing 
steps of the officers. Even this soon ceased, as if 
by a common consent, when the curiosity and im- 
patience of the Sheriff getting the complete ascen- 
dency over his discretion, he rushed up the bank, 
and in a moment stood on the little piece of cleared 
ground in front of the spot where Natty had so long 
lived. To his utter amazement, in place of the 
hut, he saw 7 only its smouldering ruins ! 

The party gradually drew together about the heap 
of ashes and ends of smoking logs, while a dim flame 
in the centre of the ruin, which still found fuel to 
feed its lingering life, threw its pale light, flickering 
with the passing currents of the air, around the 
circle, now showing a face with eyes fixed in 
astonishment, and then glancing to another counte- 
nance, leaving the former shaded in the obscurity 
of night. Not a voice was raised in inquiry, nor 
an exclamation made in astonishment. The transi- 
tion from excitement to disappointment was too 
powerful in its effects for speech, and even Richard 
lost the use of an organ that was seldom known to 
fail him. 

The whole group were yet in the fulness of 
their surprise, when a tall form stalked from the 

40 * 


474 


THE PIONEERS. 


gloom into the circle, treading down the hot ashes 
and dying embers, with callous feet, and, standing 
over the light, lifted his cap, and exposed the bare 
head and weather-beaten features of the Leather- 
stocking. For a moment he gazed at the dusky 
figures who surrounded him, more in sorrow than 
in anger, before he spoke. 

u What would ye have with an old and helpless 
man ?” he said. “ You’ve driven God’s creaters from 
the wilderness, where his providence had put them 
for his own pleasure, and you’ve brought in the 
troubles and divilties of the law, where no man was 
ever known to disturb another. You have driven 
me, that have lived forty long years of my appoint- 
ed time in this very spot, from my home and the 
shelter of my head, lest you should put your wick- 
ed feet and wasty ways in my cabin. You’ve driven 
me to burn these logs, under which I’ve eaten and 
drunk, the first of Heaven’s gifts, and the other of 
the pure springs, for the half of a hundred years, 
and to mourn the ashes under my feet, as a man 
would weep and mourn for the children of his body. 
You’ve rankled the heart of an old man, that has 
never harmed you or your’n, with bitter feelings 
towards his kind, at a time when his thoughts 
should be on a better world ; and you’ve driven 
him to wish tnat the beasts of the forest, who never 
feast on the blood of their own families, was his 
kindred and race ; and now, when he has come to 
see the last brand of his hut, before it is melted 
into ashes, you follow him up, at midnight, like 
hungry hounds on the track of a worn-out and dy- 
ing deer ! What more would ye have ? for I am 
here — one to many. I come to mourn, not to fight • 
and, if it is God’s pleasure, work your will on me.” 

When the old man ended, he stood, with the 
light glimmering around his thinly-covered head. 


THE PIONEERS. 


475 


looking earnestly at the group, which receded 
from the pile, with an instinctive and involuntary 
movement, without the reach of the quivering rays, 
leaving a free passage for his retreat into the bush- 
es, where pursuit, in the dark, would have been 
fruitless. Natty seemed not to regard this advan- 
tage, but stood facing each individual in the circle, 
in succession, as if to see who would be the first 
to arrest him. After a pause of a few moments, 
Richard began to rally his confused faculties, and 
advancing, apologized for his duty, and made him 
his prisoner. The party now collected, and, pre- 
ceded by the Sheriff, with Natty in their centre, 
they took their way towards the village. 

During the walk, divers questions were put tc 
the prisoner concerning his reasons for burning the 
hut, and whither Mohegan had retreated, but to all 
of them he observed a profound silence, until, fa- 
tigued with their previous duties, and the lateness 
of the hour, the Sheriff and his followers reached 
the village, and dispersed to their several places of 
rest, after turning the key of a jail on the aged and 
apparently friendless Leather-stocking. 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 


“ Fetch here the stocks, ho ! 

You stubborn ancient knave, you raverend braggart 
We’ll teach you.” 

Lear 


The long days and early sun of July allowed 
time for a gathering of the interested, before the 
little bell of the academy announced that the ap- 
pointed hour had arrived for administering right to 
the wronged, and punishment to the guilty. Ever 
since the dawn of day, the highways and wood- 
paths that, issuing from the forests, and winding 
along the sides of the mountains, centered in Tem- 
pleton, had been thronged with equestrians and 
footmen, bound to the haven of justice. There 
was to be seen a well-clad yeoman, mounted on a 
sleek, switch-tailed steed, ambling along the high- 
way, with his red face elevated in a manner that 
said, “ I have paid for my land, and fear no man,” 
while his bosom was swelling with the conscious 
pride of being one of the grand inquest for the 
county. At his side rode a companion, his equal 
in independence of feeling, perhaps, but his infe- 
rior in thrift, as in property and consideration. 
This was a professed dealer in lawsuits — a man 
whose name appeared in every calendar ; whose 
substance, gained in the multifarious expedients 
of a settler’s changeable habits, was wasted in feed- 


THE PIONEERS. 


477 


ing the harpies of the courts. He was endeavour- 
ing to impress the mind of the grand juror with the 
merits of a cause that was now at issue. Along 
with these tw r o was a pedestrian, who, having 
thrown a rifle frock over his shirt, and placed his 
best wool hat above his sunburnt visage, had is- 
sued from his retreat in the woods by a footpath, 
and was striving to keep company with the others, 
at an unequal gait, on his way to hear and to de 
cide the disputes of his neighbours as a petit juror. 

By ten o’clock the streets of the village w ere 
filled with groups of men with busy faces, some 
talking of their private concerns, some listening to 
a popular expounder of political creeds, and others 
gaping in at the open stores, admiring the finery, 
or examining sithes, axes, and such other manu- 
factures as attracted their curiosity or excited their 
admiration. A few' women were to be observed 
in the crowd, mostly carrying infants in their arms, 
and followed, at a lounging, listless gait, by their 
rustic lords and masters. There was one young 
couple, in whom the warmth of connubial love w as 
yet new, walking among the moving throng, both 
dressed in their back-wood finery, at a respectful 
distance from each other, while the swain directed 
the timid steps of his bride by the unbending mo- 
tions of an extended arm, to which she was ap- 
pended by grasping his thumb. 

At the first stroke of the bell, Richard issued 
from the front door of the u Bold Dragoon,” flou- 
rishing in his hand a sheathed sword, that he was 
fond of saying his ancestors had carried in one of 
Ooimvell’s victories, and crying, in an authorita 
tive tone, to “ clear the way for the court.” The 
order was obeyed pioinptly, though not servilely , 
the members of the crowd nodding familiarly to the 
members of the procession, as it passed. A paity 


478 


THE PIONEERS. 


of constables with their staves followed the Sheriff 
preceding Marmaduke, and four plain, grave-look- 
ing yeomen, who were his associates on the bench. 
There was nothing to distinguish these subordinate 
’udges from the better part of the spectators, ex- 
cept gravity, which they affected a little more than 
common, and that one of their number was attired 
in an old-fashioned military coat, with skirts that 
reached no lower than the middle of his thighs, and 
bearing two little silver epaulettes, not half so big 
as a modern pair of shoulder knots. This gentle- 
man was a colonel of the militia, in attendance on 
a court-martial, who found leisure to steal a mo- 
ment from his military to attend to his civil juris- 
diction. But this incongruity was nothing ; it ex- 
cited neither notice nor comment. Three or four 
clean-shaved lawyers followed, as meekly as if 
they were lambs going to the slaughter, one or 
two of whom had contrived to obtain an air of scho- 
lastic gravity, by wearing spectacles. The rear 
w as brought up jay another posse of constables, and 
the mob follow ed the whole into the room where 
the court held its sittings. 

The edifice was composed of a basement ol 
squared logs, perforated here and there with small 
grated windows, through which a few wistful faces 
were gazing at the crowd without, among which 
were the guilty, downcast countenances of the 
counterfeiters, and the simple but honest features 
of the Leather-stocking. The dungeons were to 
be distinguished, externally, from the debtors’ 
apartments, only by the size of the apertures, the 
thickness of the grates, and by the heads of spikes 
that were driven into the logs as a protection 
against the illegal use of edge-tools. The upper 
story was of frame-work, regularly covered with 
boards, and contained one room decently fitted up 


/ 


THE PIONEERS. 


179 


for the purposes of justice. A bench ran along 
one of its sides, and was raised on a narrow plat- 
form to the height of a man above the floor, and 
was protected in front by a light railing. In the 
centre was a seat, furnished with rude arms, that 
was always filled by the presiding judge. In front, 
on a level with the floor of the room, was a large 
table covered with green baize, and surrounded by 
benches ; and at either of its ends were placed 
rows of seats rising one over the other, for jury 
boxes. Each of these several divisions was sur- 
rounded by a railing. The remainder of the room 
was an open space appropriated to the spectators. 

When the judges were seated, the lawyers had 
taken possession of the table, and the noise of 
moving feet had ceased in the area, the proclama- 
tions were made in the usual form, the jurors were 
sworn, the charge was given, and the court pro- 
ceeded to hear the business before them. 

We shall not detain the reader with a descrip- 
tion of the captious discussions that occupied the 
court for the first two hours. Judge Temple had 
impressed on the jury, in his charge, the necessity 
for despatch on their part, recommending to their 
notice, from motives of humanity, the prisoners in 
the jail, as the first objects of their attention. Ac- 
cordingly, after the period we have mentioned bad 
elapsed, the cry of the officer to w clear the way 
for the grand jury,” announced the entrance of that 
body. The usual farms were observed, when the 
foreman handed up to the bench two bills, on both 
of which the Judge observed, at the first glance of 
bis eye, the name of Nathaniel Bumppo. It was 
a leisure moment with the court ; some low whis- 
pering passed between the bench and the Sheriff, 
who gave a signal to his officers, and in a very few 
minutes the silence that prevailed there was inter 


4bO 


THE PIONEERS. 


"upted by a general movement in the outer crowd: 
when presently the Leather-stocking made his ap- 
pearance, ushered into the criminal’s bar under the 
custody of two constables. The hum ceased, the 
people closed into the open space again, and thp 
silence soon became so deep, that the hard breath- 
ing of the prisoner was audible. 

Natty was dressed in his buck-skin garments, 
without his coat, in place of which he wore only a 
shirt of coarse linen-check, fastened at his throat 
by the sinew of a deer, leaving his red neck and 
weather-beaten face exposed and bare. It was the 
first time that he had ever crossed the threshold of 
a court of justice, and curiosity seemed to be strong- 
ly blended with his personal feelings. He raised 
nis eyes to the bench, thence to the jury-boxes, the 
bar, and the crowd without, meeting every wherp 
looks that were fastened on himself. After sur- 
veying his own person, as if in search of the cause 
of this unusual attraction, he once more turned his 
face around the assemblage, and then opened his 
mouth in one of his silent and remarkable laughs. 

“ Prisoner, remove your cap,” said Judge Tem- 
ple. 

The order was either unheard or unheeded. 

“ Nathaniel Bumppo, be uncovered,” repeated 
the Judge. 

“ Natty started at the sound of his name, and 
raising his face earnestly towards the bench, he 
said — 

“ Anan !” 

Mr. Lippet arose from his seat at the table, and 
whispered in the ear of the prisoner, when Natty 
gave him a nod of assent, and took the deer-skin 
covering from his head. 

u Mr. District Attorney,” said the Judge, u the 
prisoner is ready ; we wait for the indictment.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


48 ’ 


The duties of the public prosecutor were dis- 
charged by Dirck Van der School, who adjusted 
his spectacles, cast a cautious look around him at 
his brethren of the bar, which he ended by throw- 
ing his head aside so as to catch one glance over 
the glasses, when he proceeded to read the bill 
aloud. It was the usual charge for an assault and 
battery on the person of Hiram Doolittle, and was 
couched in the ancient language of such instru- 
ments, especial care having been taken by the 
scribe not to omit the name of a single offensive 
weapon known to the law. When he had done, 
Mr. Van der School removed his spectacles, which 
he closed and placed in his pocket, seemingly for 
the pleasure of again opening and replacing them 
on his nose. After this evolution was repeated 
once or twice, he handed the bill over to Mr. Lip- 
pet, with a cavalier air, that said as much as “ pick 
a hole in that if you can.” 

Natty listened to the charge against him with 
great attention, leaning forward towards the reader 
with an earnestness that denoted his interest ; and 
when it was ended, he raised his tall body to the 
utmost, and drew a long sigh. All eyes were turn- 
ed to the prisoner, whose voice was vainly expect- 
ed to break the stillness of the room. 

“ You have heard the presentment that the 
.grand jury have made, Nathaniel Bumppo,” said 
the Judge ; “ what do you plead to the charge ?” 

The old man dropped his head for a moment in 
a reflecting attitude, and then raising it, he laughed 
again before he answered — 

“ That I handled the man a little rough or so, is 
not to be denied ; but that there was occasion to 
make use of all them things that the gentleman has 
spoken of, is downright untrue I am not much 
41 


•182 


THE PIONEERS. 


of a wrestler, seeing that Pm getting old ; but 1 
was out among the Scotch-Irishers— lets me see — 
it must have been as long ago as the first year of 
the old war” — 

“ Mr. Lippet, if you are retained for the prison- 
er,” interrupted Judge Temple, “instruct your 
client how to plead ; if not, the court shall assign 
him counsel.” 

Aroused from studying the indictment by this 
appeal, the attorney got up, and after a short dia- 
logue with the hunter in a low voice, he informed 
the court that they were ready to proceed. 

“ Do you plead guilty or not guilty ?” said the 
Judge. 

“ I may say not guilty with a clean conscience,” 
returned Natty; “for there’s no guilt in doing 
what’s right; and I’d rather died on the spot, than 
had him put foot in the hut at that moment.” 

Richard started at this declaration, and bent his 
eyes significantly on Hiram, who returned the look 
with a slight movement of his eyebrows alone. 

“ Proceed to open the cause, Mr. District At- 
torney,” continued the Judge. “ Mr. Clerk, enter 
the plea of not guilty.” 

After a short opening address from Mr. Van 
der School, Hiram was summoned to the bar to 
give his testimony. It was delivered to the letter, 
perhaps, but with all that moral colouring which 
can be conveyed under such expressions as, “ think 
ing no harm,” “ feeling it my bounded duty as a 
magistrate,” and “ seeing that the constable was 
back’ard in the business.” When he had done, 
and the District Attorney declined putting any fur- 
ther interrogatories, Mr. Lippet arose, with an aii 
of keen investigation, and asked the following ques- 
tions • 


THE PIONEERS. 


483 


“ Are you a constable of this county, sir ?” 

u No, sir,” said Hiram, “ I’m only a justice 
peace.” 

“ I ask you, Mr. Doolittle, in the face of this 
court, putting it to your conscience and your know- 
ledge of the law, whether you had any right to en- 
ter that man’s dwelling ?” 

u Hem !” said Hiram, undergoing a violent strug- 
gle between his desire for vengeance and his love 
for legal fame ; <c I do suppose — that in — that is — 
strict law — that supposing — maybe I hadn’t a real 
— lawful right ; — but as fhe case was — and Billy 
was so back’ard — I might come for’ard in the busi- 
ness.” 

“ I ask you again, sir,” continued the lawyer 
following up his success, “ whether this old, this 
friendless old man, did or did not repeatedly forbid 
your entrance ?” 

w Why, I must say,” said Hiram, “ that he was 
considerable cross-grained ; not what I call clever, 
seeing that it was only one neighbour wanting to 
go into the house of another.” 

“ Oh ! then you own it was only meant foi a 
neighbourly visit on your part, and without the 
sanction of law. Remember, gentlemen, the 
wsrds of the witness, ‘ one neighbour wanting to 
enter the house of another.’ Now, sir, I ask you 
if Nathaniel Bumppo did not again and again order 
you not to enter ?” 

“ There was some words passed between us,” 
said Hiram, “ but I read the warrant to him aloud.” 

u I repeat my question ; did he tell you not to 
enter his habitation ?” 

u There was a good deal passed betwixt us — 
out I’ve the warrant in my pocket ; maybe the 
court would wish to see it ?” 

“Witness,” said Judge Temple, “ answer the 


484 


THE PIONEEKS. 


question directly ; did or did not the prisoner forbid 
your entering his hut ?” 

u Why, I some think” — 

“ Answer without equivocation,” continued the 
Judge, sternly. 

“ He did.” 

“ And did you attempt to enter after this order !*” 

“ I did ; but the warrant was in my hand.” 

“ Proceed, Mr. Lippet, with your examination.” 

But the attorney saw that the impression was in 
favour of his client, and, waving his hand with a 
supercilious manner, as if unwilling to insult the 
understanding of the jury with any further defence, 
he replied — 

“ No, sir; I leave it for your honour to charge: 
I rest my case here.” 

“ Mr. District Attorney,” said the Judge, u have 
you any thing to say ?” 

Mr. Van der School removed his spectacles, 
folded them, and replacing them once more on his 
nose, eyed the other bill which he held in his hand, 
and then said, looking at the bar over the top of 
his glasses — 

“ I shall rest the prosecution here, if the court 
please.” 

Judge Temple arose and began the charge. 

“ Gentlemen of the Jury,” he said, u you have 
heard the testimony, and I shall detain you but a 
moment. If an officer meet with resistance in the 
execution of a process, he has an undoubted right 
to call any citizen to his assistance ; and the acts 
of such assistant come within the protection of the 
law. I shall leave you to judge, gentlemen, from 
the testimony, how far the witness in this prosecu- 
tion can be so considered, feeling less reluctance 
to submit the case thus informally to your decision 
because there is yet another indictment to be tried 


THE PIONEERS. 


48b 

winch involves heavier charges against the unfor 
tunate prisoner.” 

The tone of Marmaduke was mild and insinuat- 
ing, and as his sentiments were given with such ap- 
parent impartiality, they did not fail of carrying their 
due weight to the jury. The grave-looking yeo- 
men, who composed this tribunal, laid their heads 
together for a few minutes, without leaving their 
box, when the foreman arose, and after the forms 
of the court were duly observed, he pronounced 
the prisoner to be— 

“ Not guilty.” 

“You are acquitted of this charge, Nathanie/ 
Bumppo,” said the Judge. 

“ Anan !” said Natty. 

“ You are found not guilty of striking and as- 
saulting Mr. Doolittle.” 

“ No, no, I’ll not deny but that I took him a lit 
tie roughly by the shoulders,” said Natty, looking 
about him with great simplicity, “ and that I — ” 

“You are acquitted,” interrupted the Judge; 
(i and there is nothing further to be said or done in 
the matter.” 

A look of joy lighted up the features of the old 
man, who now comprehended the case, and, plac- 
ing his cap eagerly on his head again, he threw up 
the bar of his little prison, and said feelingly — 

“ I must say this for you, Judge Temple, that 
the law has not been so hard on me as I dreaded. 
I hope God will bless you for the kind things 
you’ve done to me this day.” 

But the staff of the constable was opposed to his 
egress, and Mr. Lippet whispered a few wor s in 
his ear, when the aged hunter sunk back into his 
place, and, removing his cap. stroked down the 
remnants of his gray and sandy locks, with an ai: 
of mortification mingled with submission. 

41 * 


486 


THE PIONEERS. 


M Mr. District Attorney,” said Judge Temple, 
affecting to busy himself with his minutes, u pro- 
ceed with the second indictment.” 

Mr. Van der School took great care that no part 
of the presentment, which he now read, should be 
lost on his auditors. It accused the prisoner of re- 
sisting the execution of a search-warrant, by force 
of arms, and particularized, in the vague language of 
the law, among a variety of other weapons, the use 
of the rifle. This was indeed a more serious charge 
than an ordinary assault and battery, and a corre- 
sponding degree of interest was manifested by the 
spectators in its result. The prisoner was duly ar- 
raigned, and his plea again demanded. Mr. Lippet 
had anticipated the answers of Natty, and in a 
whisper advised him how to plead. But the feel- 
ings of the old hunter were awakened by some of 
the expressions of the indictment, and, forgetful of 
his caution, he exclaimed — 

“ ’Tis a wicked untruth ; I crave no man’s blood. 
Them thieves, the Iroquois, won’t say it to jny 
face, that 1 ever thirsted after man’s blood. I have 
fought as a soldier that feared his Maker and his 
officer, but I never pulled a trigger on any but a 
warrior that was up and awake. No man can say 
that I ever struck even a Mingo in his blanket. 1 
b’lieve there’s some who thinks there’s no God in 
a wilderness !” 

“ Attend to your plea, Bumppo,” said the Judge; 
u you hear that you are accused of using your rifle 
against an officer of justice ; are you guilty or not 
guilty ?” 

By this time the irritated feelings of Natty had 
found a vent ; and he rested on the bar for a mo 
nient, in a musing posture, when he lifted his 
face, with his silent laugh, and, pointing to where 
the wood-chopper stood, he said — 


THE PIONEERS. 


487 


u Would Billy Kirby be standing there, d’ye 
think, if I had used the rifle ?” 

“ Then you deny it,” said Mr. Lippet ; u you 
plead not guilty ?” 

“ Sartain,” said Natty ; a Billy knows that I 
never fired at all. Billy, do you remember the 
turkey last winter ? ah ! me ! that was better than 
common firing ; but I can’t shoot as I used to 
could.” 

“ Enter the plea of not guilty,” said Judge Tem 
pie, strongly affected by the simplicity of the pri- 
soner. 

Hiram was again sworn, and his testimony given 
on the second charge. He had discovered his 
former error, and proceeded more cautiously than 
before. He related very distinctly, and, for the 
man, with amazing terseness, the suspicion against 
the hunter, the complaint, the issuing of the war- 
rant, and the swearing in of Kirby ; all of which, 
he affirmed, were done in due form of law. He 
then added the manner in which the constable had 
been received ; and stated distinctly, that Natty 
had pointed the rifle at Kirby, and threatened his 
life, if he attempted to execute his duty. All this 
was confirmed by Jotham, who w*as observed to 
adhere closely to the story of the magistrate. Mr. 
Lippet conducted an artful cross-examination of 
these two witnesses, but after consuming much 
time, was compelled to relinquish the attempt to 
obtain any advantage, in despair. 

At length the district attorney called the wood- 
chopper to the bar. Billy gave an extremely con- 
fused account of the affair, although he evidently 
aimed at the truth, until Mr. Van der School ad- 
dressed him, by asking some direct questions : — 

“ It appears, from examining the papers, thal 
you demanded admission into the hut legally ; .so 


488 


THE PIONEERS. 


you were put m bodily fear by his rifle and 
threats ?” 

“ I didn’t mind them that, man,” said Billy, 
snapping his fingers ; u I should be a poor stick to 
mind such a one as old Leather-stocking.” 

“ But 1 understood you to say, (referring to your 
previous words, (as delivered here in court,) in 
the commencement of your testimony,) that you 
thought he meant to shoot you ?” 

“ To be sure I did ; and so would you too, Squire, 
if you had seen the chap dropping a muzzle that 
never misses, and cocking an eye that has a nate- 
ral squint by long practice. I thought there would 
be a dust on’t, and my back was up at once ; but 
Leather-stocking gi’n up the skin, and so the mat- 
ter ended.” 

“ Ah ! Billy,” said Natty, shaking his head, 
“ ’twas a lucky thought in me to throw out the 
hide, or there might have been blood spilt ; and I’m 
sure, if it had been your’n, I should have mourn’d 
it sorely the little while I have to stay.” 

“ Well, Leather-stocking,” returned Billy, facing 
the prisoner with a freedom and familiarity that ut- 
terly disregarded the presence of the court, “ as 
you are on the subject, it may be that you’ve no — ” 

“ Go on with your examination, Mr. District A t- 
torney.” 

That gentleman eyed the familiarity between his 
witness and the prisoner with manifest disgust, and 
indicated to the court that he was done. 

“ Then you didn’t feel frightened, Mr. Kiroy 
said the counsel for the prisoner. 

“ Me ! no,” said Billy, casting his eyes over ms 
own huge frame with evident self-satisfaction ; u I’m 
not to be skeared so easy.” 

“ You look like a hardy man ; where were you 
born, sir ?” 


THE PIONEERS. 


489 


* 4 Varmount state ; ’tis a mountaynious place, 
but there’s a stiff soil, and its pretty much wooded 
with beech and maple.” 

u I have always heerd so,” said Mr. Lippet, 
soothingly. <c You have been used to the rifle 
yourself, in that country ?” 

“ I pull the second best trigger in this county 
I knock under to Natty Bumppo there, sin’ he shot 
the pigeon.” 

Leather- stocking raised his head, and laughed 
again, when he thrust out a wrinkled hand, and 
said — 

“ You’re young yet, Billy, and haven’t seen the 
matches that I have ; but here’s my hand ; I bear 
no malice to you, I don’t.” 

Mr. Lippet allowed this conciliatory offering to 
be accepted, and judiciously paused while the spi- 
rit of peace was exercising her influence over the 
two ; but the Judge interposed his authority by 
saying — 

u This is an improper place for such dialogues. 
— Proceed with your examination of this witness, 
Mr. Lippet, or I shall order the next.” 

The attorney started, as if he were unconscious 
of any impropriety, and continued — 

u So you settled the matter with Natty amica- 
bly on the spot, did you ?” 

“ He gi’n me the skin, and I didn’t want to quarrel 
with an old man ; for my part, I see no such mighty 
matter m shooting a buck !” 

“ And you parted friends ? and you would never 
have thought of bringing the business up before a 
court, hadn’t you been subpoenaed ?” 

“ I don’t think I should ; he gi’n the skin, and 1 
didn’t feel a hard thought, though Squire Doolittle 
got some affronted.” 

“ I have done, sir,” said Mr. Lippet, probably 


490 


THE PIONEERS. 


relying on the charge of the Judge, as he again 
seated himself, with the air of a man who felt that 
his success was certain. 

When Mr. Van der School arose to address the 
jury, he commenced by saying — 

“ Gentlemen of the jury, I should have inter- 
rupted the leading questions put by the prisoner’s 
counsel, (by leading questions I mean telling him 
what to say, ) did I not feel confident that the law 
of the land was superior to any advantages ( I mean 
legal advantages) which he might obtain by his 
art. The counsel for the prisoner, gentlemen, has 
endeavoured to persuade you, in opposition to your 
own good sense, to believe that pointing a rifle at 
a constable (elected or deputed) is a very inno- 
cent affair ; and that society ( I mean the common- 
wealth, gentlemen,) shall not be endangered there- 
by. But let me claim your attention, while we 
look over the particulars of this heinous offence.” 
Here Mr. Van der School favoured the jury with 
an abridgment of the testimony, recounted in such 
a manner as utterly to confuse the faculties of his 
worthy listeners. After this exhibition he closed 
as follows : — “ and now, gentlemen, having thus 
made plain to your senses the crime of which this 
unfortunate man has been guilty, ( unfortunate both 
on account of his ignorance and his guilt, ) I shall 
leave you to your own consciences ; not in the 
least doubting, that you will see the importance 
( notwithstanding the prisoner’s counsel ( doubtless 
relying on your former verdict) wishes to appeal 
so confident of success) of punishing the offender, 
and asserting the dignity of the laws.” 

It was now the duty of the Judge to deliver his 
charge. It consisted of a short, comprehensive 
summary of the testimony, laying bare the artifice 
of the prisoner’s counsel, and placing the facts in 


THE PIONEERS. 


491 


so obvious a light, that they could not well be mis- 
understood. “ Living as we do, gentlemen,” he 
concluded, “ on the skirts of society, it becomes ' 
doubly necessary to protect the ministers of the 
law. If you believe the witnesses, in their con- 
struction of the acts of the prisoner, it is your duty 
to convict him ; but if you believe that the old man, 
who this day appears before you, meant not to harm 
the constable, but was acting more under the in- 
fluence of habit than by the instigations of malice, 
it will be your duty to judge him, but to do it with 
lenity.” 

As before, the jury did not leave their box, but, 
after a consultation of some little time, their fore- 
man arose, and pronounced the prisoner — 

“ Guilty.” 

There was but little surprise manifested in the 
court room at this verdict, as the testimony, the 
greater part of which we have omitted, was too 
clear and direct to be passed over. The judges 
seemed to have anticipated this sentiment, for a 
consultation was passing among them also, during 
the deliberation of the jury, and the preparatory 
movements of the u bench” announced the coming 
sentence. 

u Nathaniel Bumppo,” commenced the Judge, 
making the customary pause. 

The old hunter, who had been musing again, 
with his head on the bar, raised himself, and cried, 
with a prompt, military tone — 

“ Here.” 

The Judge waved his hand for silence, and pro- 
ceeded — 

“ In forming their sentence, the court have been 
governed as much by the consideration of your ig 
norance of the laws, as by a strict sense of the im- 
portance of punishing such outrages as this of which 


192 


THE PIONEERS. 


you have been found guilty. They have, there 
fore, passed over the obvious punishment of whip- 
ping on the bare back, in mercy to your years 
but as the dignity of the law requires an open ex- 
hibition of the consequences of your crime, it is or- 
dered, that you be conveyed from this room to the 
public stocks, where you are to be confined for one 
hour ; that you pay a fine to the state of one hun- 
dred dollais; and that you be imprisoned in the 
jail of this county for one calendar month ; and fur- 
thermore, that your imprisonment do not cease 
until the said fine shall be paid. I feel it my duty, 
Nathaniel Bumppo,” — 

“ And where should I get the money ?” inter- 
rupted the Leather-stocking, eagerly ; u where 
should I get the money? you’ll take away the 
bounty on the painters, because I cut the throat of 
a deer; and how is an old man to find so much 
gold or silver in the woods ? No, no. Judge ; think 
better of it, and don’t talk of shutting me up in a 
jail for the little time 1 have to stay.” 

“ If you have any thing to urge against the pass- 
ing of the sentence, the court will yet hear you,” 
said the Judge, mildly. 

“ I have enough to say ag’in it,” cried Natty, 
grasping the bar on which his fingers were work- 
ing with a convulsed motion. “ Where am I to 
get the money ? Let me out into the woods and 
hills, where I’ve been used to breathe the clear 
air, and though I’m threescore and ten, if you’ve 
left game enough in the country, I’ll travel night 
and day but I’ll make you up the sum afore the 
season is over. Yes, yes — you see the reason of 
the thing, and the wickedness of shutting up an 
old man, that has spent his days, as one may say. 
where he could always look into the window' J 
heaven.” 


THE PIONEERS. 


493 


“ I must be governed by the law” 

“ Talk not to me of law, Marmaduke Temple,’' 
interrupted the hunter. u Did the beast of the fo- 
rest mind your laws, when it was thirsty and hun- 
gering for the blood of your own child ! She was 
kneeling to her God for a greater favour than I ask, 
and he heard her ; and if you now say no to my 
prayers, do you think he will be deaf?” 

“ My private feelings must not enter into — ” 
u Hear me, Marmaduke Temple,” interrupted 
the old man, with a melancholy tone of voice, 
“ and hear reason. Pve travelled these moun- 
tains wdien you was no judge, but an infant in your 
mother’s arms ; and I feel as if I had fright and a 
privilege to travel them ag’in afore I die. Have 
you forgot the time that you come on to the lake- 
shore, when there wasn’t even a jail to lodge in ; 
and didn’t I give you my own bear-skin to sleep 
on, and the fat of a noble buck to satisfy the crav- 
ings of your hunger? Yes, yes — you thought it no 
sin then to kill a deer ! And this I did, though I 
had no reason to love you, for you had never done 
any thing but harm to them that loved and shel- 
tered me. And now, will you shut me up in your 
dungeons to pay me for my kindness ? A hundred 
dollars ! where should I get the money ? No, no — 
there’s them that says hard things of you, Marma- 
duke Temple, but you an’t so bad as to wish to see 
an old man die in a prison, because he stood up for 
the right. Come, friend, let me pass ; it’s long 
sin’ I’ve been used to such crowds, and I crave to 
be in the woods ag’in. Don’t fear me, Judge — I 
bid you not to fear me ; for if there’s beaver enough 
left on the streams, or the buckskins will sell for a 
shilling a-piece, you shall have the last penny of 
the fine. Where are ye, pups ! come away, dogs ’ 
tome away ! we have a grievous toil to do for gut 
4*2 


494 


THE PIONEERS. 


years, but it snail be done — yes, yes, I’ve promised 
it, and it shall be done !” 

It is unnecessary to say, that the movement of 
the Leather-stocking was again intercepted by the 
constable ; but before he had time to speak, a bus- 
tling in the crowd, and a loud hem, drew all eyes 
to another part of the room. 

Benjamin had succeeded in edging his way 
through the people, and was now seen balancing 
his short body, with one foot in a window and the 
other on the railing of the jury-box. To the 
amazement of the wdiole court, the steward was 
evidently preparing to speak. After a good deal of 
difficulty, he succeeded in drawing from his pocket 
a small bag, and then found utterance. 

“ If-so-be,” he said, “ that your honour is agree- 
able to trust the poor fellow out on another cruise 
among the beasts, here’s a small matter that will 
help to bring down the risk, seeing that there’s 
just thirty-five of your Spaniards in it ; and I wish, 
from the bottom of my heart, that they was raal 
British guineas, for the sake of the old boy. But 
’tis as it is ; and if Squire Dickens will just be so 
good as to overhaul this small bit of an account, and 
take enough from the bag to settle the same, he’s 
welcome to hold on upon the rest, till such time as 
the Leather-stocking can grapple with them said 
beaver, or, for that matter, for ever, and no thanks 
asked.” 

As Benjamin concluded, he thrust out the wood- 
en register of his arrears to the “ Bold Dragoon” 
with one hand, while he offered his bag of dollars 
with the other. Astonishment at this singular in- 
terruption produced a profound stillness in the 
room, which was only interrupted by the Sheriff, 
who struck his sword on the table, and cried — 

u Silence '” 


THE PIONEERS. 


41)5 


u There must be an end to this,” said the Judge, 
struggling to overcome his feelings. “ Constable, 
lead the prisoner to the stocks. Mr. Clerk, what 
stands next on the calendar ?” 

Natty seemed to yield to his destiny, for he 
sunk his head on his chest, and followed the officer 
from the court-room in silence. The crowd moved 
back for the passage of the prisoner, and When his 
tall form was seen descending from the outer door, 
a rush of the people to the scene of his disgrace 
followed. 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 


Ha. ! ha! look ! he wears cruel garters ’ 

Lear 


The punishments of the common law were still 
known, at the time of our tale, to the people of 
New- York ; and the whipping-post, with its com- 
panion, the stocks, were not yet supplanted by the 
more modern but doubtful expedients of the pub- 
lic prisons. Immediately in front of the jail those 
relics of the elder times were situated, as a lesson 
of precautionary justice to the evil-doers of the 
settlement. 

Natty followed the constables to this spot, bow- 
ing his head with submission to a power that he 
was unable to oppose, and surrounded by the crowd 
that formed a circle about his person exhibiting in 
their countenances a strong curiosity. A consta- 
ble raised the upper part of the stocks, and pointed 
with his finger to the holes where the old man was 
to place his feet. Without making the least ob- 
jection to the punishment, the Leather-stocking 
quietly seated himself on the ground, and suffered 
* his limbs to be laid in the openings, without even 
a murmur ; though he cast one glance about him, 
as if in quest of that sympathy that human nature 
always seems to require under suffering. If he 


THE PIONEERS. 


4i' 1 

met no direct manifestations of pity, neither did he 
Bee any savage exultation expressed, nor hear a 
single reproachful epithet. The character of the 
mob, if it could be called by such a name, was that 
of attentive subordination. 

The constable was in the act of lowering the up 
per plank, when Benjamin, who had pressed close 
to the side of the prisoner, said, in his hoarse tones, 
as if seeking for some cause to create la quarrel — 
“ Where away, master constable, is the use to 
be found of clapping a man in them here bilboes ? 
it neither stops his grog nor hurts his back ; what 
for is it that you do the thing ?” 

“ ’Tis the sentence of the court, Mr. Penguillum. 
and there’s law for it, I s’pose.” 

u Ay, ay, I know that there’s law for the thing ; 
but where away do you find the use, I say ? it does 
no harm, and it only keeps a man by the heels for 
the small matter of two glasses.” 

u Is it no harm, Benny Pump,” said Natty, rais- 
ing his eyes with a piteous look to the face of the 
steward — “ is it no harm to show off a man in his 
seventy-first year, like a tame bear, for the settlers 
to look on ! Is it no harm to put an old soldier, 
that has sarved through the war of ’fifty-six, and 
seen the inimy in the ’seventy-six business, into a 
place like this, where the boys can point at him 
and say, I have known the time when he was a 
spictacle for the country ! Is it no harm to bring 
down the pride of an honest man to be the equal 
of the beasts of the forest !” 

Benjamin stared about him fiercely, and could 
he have found a single face that expressed contu- 
mely, he would have been prompt to ouarrel with 
its owner ; but meeting every where with looks of 
sobriety, and occasionally of commiseration, he 
rery deliberately seated himself by the side of the 
42 * 


4.98 


THE PIONEERS. 


hunter, and placing his legs in the two vacant holes 
of the stocks, he said — 

“ Now lower away, master constable, lower 
away, I tell ye ! If-so-be there’s such a thing here- 
abouts as a man that wants to see a bear, let him 

look and be d d, and he shall find two of them, 

and mayhap one of the same that can bite as well 
as growl.” 

“ But I’ve no orders to put you in the stocks, 
Mr. Pump,” cried the constable ; “ you must get 
up, and let me do my duty.” 

“ You’ve my orders, and what do you need bet- 
ter to meddle with my own feet ? so lower away, 
will ye, and let me see the man that chooses to 
open his mouth with a grin on it.” 

“ There can’t be any harm in locking up a crea- 
ter that will enter the pound,” said the constable, 
laughing, and closing the stocks on them both. 

It was fortunate that this act was executed with 
decision, for the whole of the spectators, when they 
saw Benjamin assume the position he took, felt an 
inclination for merriment, which few thought it worth 
their efforts to suppress. The steward struggled 
violently for his liberty again, with an evident in 
tention of making battle on those who stood near- 
est to him ; but the key was already turned, and 
all his efforts were made in vain. 

u Hark ye, master constable,” he cried, “ just 
clear away your bilboes for the small matter of a 
log-glass, will ye, and let me show some of them 
there chaps who it is that they are so merry about.” 

“ No, no, you would go in, and you can’t come 
out,” returned the officer, u until the time has ex- 
pired that the Judge directed for the keeping of 
the prisoner.” 

Benjamin, finding that his threats and his strug- 
gles were useless, had good sense enough to learn 


THE PIONEERS. 


499 


paiience from the resigned manner of his com- 
panion, and so' n settled himself down by the side 
of Natty, with a contemptuousness expressed in 
his hard features, that showed he had substituted 
disgust for rage. When the violence of the stew- 
ard’s feelings had in some measure subsided, he 
turned to his fellow-sufferer, and, with a motive 
that might have vindicated a worse effusion, he 
attempted the charitable office of consolation. 

“ Taking it by and large, Master Bump-ho, ’tis 
but a small matter after all,” he said. u Now, I’ve 
known very good sort of men, aboard of the Boadi- 
shey, laid by the heels, for nothing, mayhap, but 
forgetting that they’d drunk their allowance already, 
when a glass of grog has come in their way. This 
is nothing more than riding, with two anchors ahead, 
waiting for a turn in the tide, or a shift of wind, d’ye 
see, with a soft bottom and plenty of room for the 
sweep of your hawse. Now I’ve seen many a man, 
for over- shooting his reckoning, as I told ye, moored 
head and starn, where he couldn’t so much as heave 
his broadside round, and mayhap a stopper clapt on 
his tongue too, in the shape of a pump-bolt lashed 
athwartship his jaws, all the same as an out-rigger 
along side of a taffrel-rail.” 

The hunter appeared to appreciate the kind in 
tentions of the other, though he could not under- 
stand his eloquence ; and raising his humbled coun- 
tenance, he attempted a smile in vain, as he said — 

u Anan !” 

“ ’Tis nothing, I say, but a small matter of a 
squall that will soon blow over,” continued Benja- 
min. “ To you that has such a length of keel, it 
must be all the same as nothing ; thof, seeing that 
I’m a little short in my lower timbers, they’ve 
priced my heels up aloft in such a way as to give 
• me a bit of a slue. But what cares I, Master 


500 


THE PIONEERS. 


Bump-ho, if the ship strains a little at her anchor; 
it’s only foi a dog-watch, and dam’me but she’ll 
sail with you then on that cruise after them said 
beaver. I’m not much used to small arms, seeing 
that I was stationed at the ammunition-boxes, be- 
ing sum’mat too low-rigged to see over the ham- 
mock-cloths ; but I can carry the game, d’ye see, 
and mayhap make out to lend a hand with the 
traps ; and if-so-be you’re any way so handy with 
them as ye be with your boat-hook, ’twill be but a 
short cruise after all. I’ve squared the yards with 
Squire Dickens this morning, and I shall send him 
word that he needn’t bear my^name on the books 
again till such time as the cruise is over.” 

“ You’re used to dwell with men, Benny,” said 
Leather-stocking, mournfully, “ and the ways of 
the woods would be hard on you, if”' 

“ Not a bit — not a bit,” cried the steward ; “ I’m 
none of your fair-weather chaps, Master Bump-ho, 
as sails only in smooth water. When I find a friend, 
1 sticks by him, d’ye see. Now, there’s no better 
man a-going than Squire Dickens, and I love him 
about the same as I loves Mistress Hollister’s new 
keg of Jamaiky.” The steward paused, and turn- 
ing his uncouth visage on the hunter, he surveyed 
him with a roguish leer of his eye, and gradually 
suffered the muscles of his hard features to relax, 
until his face was illuminated by the display of his 
white teeth, when he dropped his voice, and added 
- “ I say, Master Leather-stocking, ’tis fresher 
and livelier*than any Hollands you’ll get in Garn- 
sey. But we’ll send a hand over and ask the wo- 
man for a taste, for I’m so jamb’d in these here 
bilboes, that I begin to want sum’mat to lighten my 
upper works.” 

Natty sighed, and gazed about him on the crowd, 
-hat already began to disperse, and which had now 


THE PIONEERS. 


501 


diminished greatly, as its members scattered in their 
various pursuits. He looked wistfully at Benja- 
min, but did not reply ; a deeply seated anxiety 
seeming to absorb every other sensation, and to 
throw a melancholy gloom over his wrinkled fea- 
tures, which were working with the movements of 
his mind. 

The steward was about to act on the old princi- 
ple, that silence gives consent, when Hiram Doo- 
little, attended by Jotham, stalked out of the crowd, 
across the open space, and approached the stocks. 
The magistrate passed by the end where Benjamin 
was seated, and posted himself, at a safe distance 
from the steward, in front of the Leather-stocking. 
Hiram stood, for a moment, cowering before the 
keen looks that Natty fastened on him, and suffer- 
ing under an embarrassment that was quite new ; 
when, having in some degree recovered himself, 
he looked at the heavens, and then at the smoky 
atmosphere, as if it were only an ordinary meeting 
with a friend, and said, in his formal, hesitating 
way — 

u Quite a scurcity of rain lately ; I some think 
we shall have a long drought on’t.” 

Benjamin was occupied in untying his bag of 
dollars, and did not observe the approach of the 
magistrate, while Natty turned his face, in which 
every muscle was working, away from him in dis- 
gust, without answering. Rather encouraged than 
daunted by this exhibition of dislike, Hiram, after 
a short pause, continued — 

“ The clouds look as if they’d no water in them, 
and the earth is dreadfully parched. To my judg- 
ment, there’ll be short crops this season, if the rain 
doos’nt fall quite speedily.” 

The air with which Mr. Doolittle delivered this 
prophetical opinion was peculiar to his species. If 


502 


THE PIONEERS 


was a jesuitical, cold, unfeeling, and selfish manner, 
that seemed to say, “ I have kept within the law/' 
to the man he had so cruelly injured. It quite 
overcame the restraint that the old hunter had 
been labouring to impose on himself, and he burst 
out in a warm glow of indignation. 

u Why should the rain fall from the clouds,” he 
cried, u when you force the tears from the eyes of 
the old, the sick, and the poor! Away with ye — 
away with ye ! you may be formed in the image 
of the Maker, but Satan dwells in your heart. Away 
with ye, I say ! I am mournful, and the sight of ye 
brings bitter thoughts.” 

Benjamin ceased thumbing his money, and raised 
his head, at the instant that Hiram, who was thrown 
off his guard by the invectives of the hunter, un- 
luckily trusted his person within the reach of the 
steward, who grasped one of his legs, with a hand 
that had the grip of a vice, and whirled the ma- 
gistrate from his feet, before he had either time to 
collect his senses, or exercise the strength he did 
really possess. Benjamin wanted neither propor- 
tions nor manhood in his head, shoulders, and arms, 
though all the rest of his frame appeared to be ori- 
ginally intended for a very different sort of a man. 
He exerted his physical powers, on the present 
occasion, with much discretion, and as their posi- 
tions were a great disadvantage to his antagonist, 
without at all discomposing the steward, the strug- 
gle resulted, very soon, in Benjamin getting the 
magistrate fixed in a posture somewhat similar to 
his own, and manfully placed face to face. 

u You’re a ship’s cousin, I tell ye, Master Doo- 
out-little,” roared the steward — u some such mat- 
ter as a ship’s cousin, sir. 1 know you, I do, with 
your fair-weather speeches to Squire Dickens, to 
his face, and then you go and sarve out your grum- 


THE PIONEERS. 


503 


bling to all the old women in the town, do ye. An’t 
it enough for any Christian, let him harbour never 
so much malice, to get an honest old fellow laid by 
the heels in this fashion, without carrying sail so 
hard on the poor dog, as if you would run him 
down as he lay at his anchors ? But I’ve logged 
many a hard thing against your name, master, and 
now the time’s come to foot up the day’s work, 
d’ye see ; so square yourself, you lubber, square 
yourself, and we’ll soon know who’s the bettei 
man.” 

“ Jotham !” cried the frightened magistrate — 
a Jotham ! call in the constables. Mr. Penguil- 
lium, I command the peace — I order you to kfeep 
the peace.” 

“ There’s been more peace than love atwixt us, 
master,” cried the steward, making some very 
equivocal demonstrations towards hostility ; “ so 
mind yourself ! square yourself, I say ! do you 
smell this here bit of a sledge-hammer ?” 

u Lay hands on me if you dare !” exclaimed Hi- 
ram, as well as he could under the grasp which the 
steward held on his throttle — “ lay hands on me 
if you dare 1” 

“ If ye call this laying, master, you are welcome 
to the eggs,” roared the steward. 

It becomes our disagreeable duty to record here, 
that the acts of Benjamin now became perfectly 
unequivocal ; for he darted his sledge-hammer vi- 
olently on the anvil of Mr. Doolittle’s countenance, 
and the place became, in an instant, a scene of tu- 
mult and confusion. The crowd rushed in a dense 
circle around the spot, while some ran to the court - 
room to give the alarm, and one or two of the more 
juvenile part of the multitude had a desperate trial 
of speed, to see who should be the happy man to 


504 


THE PIONEERS. 


communicate the critical situation of the magistrate 
to his wife. 

Benjamin worked with great industry and a good 
deal of skill, at his occupation, using one hand to 
raise up his antagonist, while he knocked him over 
with the other ; for he w T ould have been disgraced 
in his own estimation, had he struck a blow on a 
fallen adversary. By this considerate arrange- 
ment he found means, however, to hammer the 
visage of Hiram out of all shape, by the time that 
Richard succeeded in forcing his way through the 
throng to the point of combat. The Sheriff after- 
wanj declared that, independent of his mortifica- 
tion, as preserver of the peace of the county, at 
this interruption to its harmony, he was never so 
grieved in his life, as when he saw this breach of 
unity between his favourites. Hiram had in some 
degree become necessary to his vanity, and Ben- 
jamin, strange as it may appear, he really loved. 
This attachment was exhibited in the first words 
that he uttered. 

“ Squire Doolittle ! Squire Doolittle ! I am 
ashamed to see a man of your character and office 
forget himself so much as to disturb the peace, in- 
sult the court, and beat poor Benjamin in this man- 
ner !” 

At the sound of Mr. Jones’s voice, the steward 
ceased his employment, and Hiram had an oppor- 
tunity of raising his discomfited visage towards the 
mediator. Emboldened by the sight of the Sheriff, 
Mr. Doolittle again had recourse to his lungs. 

“ I’ll have the law on you for this,” he cried 
desperately ; “ I’ll have the law on you for this. 1 
call on you, Mr. Sheriff, to seize this man, and I 
demand that you take his body into custody.” 

By this time Richard was master of the tme 


THE PIONEERS. 


505 


state of the case, and, turning to the steward, he 
cried — 

“ Benjamin, how came you in the stocks ? I al- 
ways thought you were as mild and docile as a 
lamb. It was for your docility that I most esteem- 
ed you. Benjamin ! Benjamin ! you have not only 
disgraced yourself, but your friends, by this shame- 
less conduct. Bless me ! bless me ! Mr. Doolit- 
tle, he seems to have knocked your face all of one 
side.” 

Hiram by this time had got on his feet again, and 
without the reach of the steward, when he broke 
forth in violent appeals for vengeance. The of- 
fence was too apparent to be passed over, and the 
Sheriff, mindful of the impartiality exhibited by 
his cousin in the recent trial of the Leather-stock- 
ing, came to the painful conclusion that it was ne- 
cessary to commit his major-domo to prison. As 
the time of Natty’s punishment was expired, and 
Benjamin found that they were to be confined, for 
that night at least, in the same apartment, he made 
no very strong objections to the measure, nor 
spoke of bail, though, as the Sheriff preceded the 
party of constables that conducted them to the jail, 
he uttered the following remonstrance : — 

a As to being birthed with Master Bump-ho for 
a night or so, it’s but little I think of it, Squire 
Dickens, seeing that I calls him an honest man, 
and one as has a handy way with boat-hooks and 
rifles ; but as for owning that a man desarves any 
thing worse than a double allowance, for knocking 
that carpenter’s face a-one-side, as you call it, I’ll 
maintain it’s ag’in reason and Christianity. If 
there’s a blood-sucker in this ’ere country, it’s that 
very chap. Ay ! I know him ! and if he hasn’t got 
all the same as dead-wood in his head-works, he 
knows sum’mat of me. Where’s the mighty harm, 
43 


506 


THE PIONEERS. 


Squire, that you take it so much to heart ? It’s all 
the same as any other battle, d’ye see, sir, being 
fair broadside to broadside, only that it was fout 
at anchor, which was what we did in Port Praya 
roads, when Suff’ring came in among us ; and a 
suff’ring time he had of it, before he got out again.” 

Richard thought it unworthy of him to make any 
reply to this speech ; but when his prisoners were 
safely lodged in an outer dungeon, ordering the 
bolts to be drawn and the key turned, he with- 
drew. 

Benjamin held frequent and friendly dialogues 
with different people, through the iron gratings, 
during the afternoon ; but his companion paced 
their narrow limits, in his moccasins, with quick, 
impatient treads, his face hanging on his breast in 
dejection, or when lifted, at moments, to the idlers 
at the window, lighted, perhaps, for an instant, 
with the childish aspect of aged forgetfulness, 
which would vanish directly in an expression of 
deep and obvious anxiety. 

At the close of the day, Edwards was seen at the 
window, in close and earnest dialogue with his 
friend ; and after he departed, it was thought that 
he had communicated words of comfort to the hunt- 
er, who threw himself on his pallet, and was soon 
in a deep sleep. The curious spectators had ex- 
hausted the conversation of the steward, who had 
drunk good fellowship with half of his acquaint- 
ance, and as Natty was no longer in motion, by 
eight o’clock, Billy Kirby, who was the last loun- 
ge! at the window, retii ed into the “ Templetown 
Coffee-house,” when Natty rose and hung a blan 
ket before the opening, and the prisoners appa 
rently retired for the night. 


CHAPTER XXXV 


w And to avoid the foe’s pursuit, 

With spurring put their cattle to’t 
And till all four were out of wind 
\nd danger too, ne’er look’d behind.” 

Hudibras. 

As the shades of the evening approached, the 
jurors, witnesses, and other attendants on the court, 
began to disperse, and before nine o’clock the vil- 
lage was quiet, and its streets nearly deserted. At 
that hour Judge Temple and his daughter, follow- 
ed at a short distance by Louisa Grant, walked 
slowly down the avenue, under the slight shadows 
of the young poplars, holding the following dis- 
course : — 

“ You can best soothe his wounded spirit, my 
child,” said Marmaduke ; ct but it will be danger- 
ous to touch on the nature of his offence ; the sanc- 
tity of the laws must be respected.” 

u Surely, sir,” cried the impatient Elizabeth, 
u those laws that condemn a man like the Leather- 
stocking to so severe a punishment, for an offence 
that even I must think very venial, cannot be per- 
fect in themselves.” 

“ Thou talkest of what thou dost not understand, 
Elizabeth,” returned her father. “ Society can- 
not exist without wholesome restraints. Those 
restraints cannot be inflicted, without security and 


508 


THE PIONEERS. 


respect, to the persons of those who administei 
them ; and it would sound ill indeed to report, that 
a judge had extended favour to a convicted crimi- 
nal, because he had saved the life of his child.” 

u I see — I see the difficulty of your situation, 
dear sir,” cried the daughter ; “ but in appreciating 
the offence of poor Natty, 1 cannot separate the 
minister of the law from the man.” 

w There thou talkest as a woman, child ; it is 
not for an assault on Hiram Doolittle, but for 
threatening the life of a constable, who was in the 
performance of” — 

a It is immaterial whether it be one or the other,” 
interrupted Miss Temple, with a logic that con- 
tained more feeling than reason ; “ I know Natty 
to be innocent, and, thinking so, I must think all 
wrong who oppress him.” 

u His judge among the number ! thy father, Eli 
zabeth ?” 

“ Nay, nay — nay ; do not put such questions to 
me ; give me my commission, father, and let me 
proceed to execute it.” 

The Judge paused a moment, smiling fondly on 
his child, and then dropped his hand affectionately 
on her shoulder, as he answered — 

u Thou hast reason, Bess, and much of it too, 
but thy heart lies too near thy head. But listen : 
in this pocket-book are two hundred dollars. Go 
to the prison — there are none in this place to harm 
thee — give this note to the jailer, and when thou 
seest Bumppo, say what thou wilt to the poor old 
man ; give scope to the feelings of thy warm heart ; 
but try to remember, Elizabeth, that the laws 
alone remove us from the condition of the savages ; 
that he has been criminal, and that his judge was 
thy father.” 

Miss Temple made no reply, but she pressed 


THE PIONEERS. 


50‘J 


the hand that held the pocket-book to her bosom, 
and taking her friend by the arm, they issued to- 
gether from the enclosure into the principal street 
of the village. 

As they pursued their walk in silence, under the 
row of houses, where the deeper gloom of the 
evening effectually concealed their persons, no 
sound reached them, excepting the slow tread of a 
yoke of oxen, with the rattling of a cart, that were 
moving along the street in the same direction with 
themselves. The figure of the teamster was just 
discernible by the dim light, lounging by their side, 
with a listless air, as if equally fatigued with his 
beasts, by the toil of the day. At the corner, 
where the jail stood, the progress of the ladies was 
impeded, for a moment, by the oxen, who were 
turned up to the side of the building, and given a 
lock of hay, which they had carried on their necks, 
as a reward for their patient labour. The whole 
of this was so natural, and so common, that Eliza- 
beth saw nothing to induce a second glance at the 
team, until she heard the teamster speaking to his 
cattle in a low voice — 

u Mind yourself, Brindle ; will you, sir ! will 
you !” 

The language itself was unusual to oxen, with 
which all who dwell in anew country are familiar; 
but there was something in the voice also, that 
startled Miss Temple. On turning the corner, 
she necessarily approached near to the man, and 
her searching look was enabled to detect the per- 
son of Oliver Edwards, concealed under the coarse 
garb of a teamster. Their eyes met at the same 
instant, and, notwithstanding the gloom, and the 
enveloping cloak of Elizabeth, the recognition was 
mutual. 

“ Miss Temple “ Mr. Edwards *” were ex 

43 * 


510 


THE PIONEERS. 


claimed simultaneously, though a feeling that seem- 
ed common to them both rendered their tones 
nearly inaudible. 

• “ Is it possible ’” exclaimed Edwards, after the 
moment of doubt had passed ; “ do I see you so 
nigh the jail ! but you are going to the Rectory, I 
beg pardon, Miss Grant, I believe ; I did not re- 
cognise you at first.” 

The sigh which Louisa uttered was so faint, 
that it was only heard by Elizabeth, who replied 
quickly — 

“ We are going not only to the jail, Mr. Ed- 
wards, but into it. We wish to show the Leather- 
stocking that we do not forget his services, and 
that, at the same time we must be just, we are also 
grateful. I suppose you are on a similar errand • 
but let me beg that you will give us leave to pre- 
cede you ten minutes. Good night, sir ; I — I — 
am quite sorry, Mr. Edwards, to see you reduced 
to such labour ; I am sure my father would — ” 

“ I shall wait your pleasure, madam,” inter- 
rupted the youth, coldly. “ May I beg that you 
will not mention my being here ?” 

“ Certainly, sir,” said Elizabeth, returning his 
bow by a slight inclination of her head, and urging 
tl\e tardy Louisa forward. As they entered the 
jailer’s house, however, Miss Grant found leisure 
to whisper — 

“ Would it not be well to offer part of your 
money to Oliver ? half of it will pay the fine of 
Bumppo ; and he is so unused to hardships ! I 
am sure my father will subscribe much of his little 
pittance, to place him in a station that is more wor- 
thy of him.” 

The involuntary smile that passed over the fea- 
tures of Eiizffbeth was transient as a gleam of flit 
ting light, and was blended with an expression oi 


THE PIONEERS. 


51 1 


deep aud heart-felt pity. She did not reply, how- 
ever, and the appearance of the jailer soon re- 
called the thoughts of both to the immediate object 
of their visit. 

The rescue of the ladies, and their consequent 
interest in his prisoner, together with the informal 
manners that prevailed in the country, all united 
to prevent any surprise, on the part of the jailer, 
at their request for admission tc Bumppo. The 
note of Judge Temple, however, would have si- 
lenced all objections, if he had felt them, and he 
led the way without hesitation to the apartment 
that held the prisoners. The instant the key was 
put into tile lock, the hoarse voice of Benjamin 
was heard, demanding — 

u Yo ! hoy ! who come there 3 ” 

“ Some visiters that you’ll be glad to see,” re- 
turned the jailer. u What have you done to the 
lock, that it wo’n’t turn ?” 

u Handsomely, handsomely, master,” cried the 
steward ; “ I’ve just drove a nail into a birth along- 
side of this here bolt, as a stopper, d’ye see, so that 
master Doo-but-little can’t be running in and 
breezing up another fight atwixt us ; for, to my ac- 
count, there’ll be but a ban-yan with me soon, see- 
ing that they’ll mulct me of my Spaniards, all the 
same as if I’d overflogged the lubber. Throw youi 
ship into the wind, and lay by for a small matter, 
will ye ? and I’ll soon clear a passage.” 

The sounds of hammering gave an assurance that 
the steward was in earnest, and in a short time the 
lock yielded, when the door was opened. 

Benjamin had evidently been anticipating the 
seizure of his money, for he had made frequent de 
mands on the favourite cask at the u Bold Dragoon,” 
during the afternoon and evening, and was now in 
fhat state which by marine imagery is called u half- 


512 


THE PIONEERS 


seas-over.” It was no easy thing to destroy the 
balance of the old tar by the effects of liquor, for, 
as he expressed it himself, “ he was too low-rigged 
not to carry sail in all weathers ;” but he was pre 
cisely in that condition which is so expressively 
termed “ mudc.y.” When he perceived who the 
visiters were, he retreated to the side of the room 
where his pallet lay, and, regardless of the presence 
of his young mistress, seated himself on it with an 
air of great sobriety, placing his back firmly against 
the wall. 

u If you undertake to spoil my locks in this man- 
ner, Mr. Pump,” said the jailer, “ I shall put a 
stopper, as you call it, on your legs, and tie you 
down to your bed.” 

“ What for should ye, Master ?” grumbled Ben- 
jamin ; u I’ve rode out one squall to-day, anchored 
by the heels, and I wants no more of them. Where’s 
the harm of doing all the same as yourself? Leave 
f hat there door free outboard, and you’ll find no 
ocking inboard, I’ll promise ye.” 

u I must shut up for the night at nine,” said the 
jailer, “ and it’s now forty-two minutes past eight.” 
He placed the little candle he carried on a rough 
pine table, and withdrew. 

“ Leather-stocking !” said Elizabeth, when the 
key of the door was turned on them again, u my 
good friend Leather-stocking ! I have come on a 
message of gratitude to you. Had you submitted 
to the search, worthy old man, the death of the 
deer would have been a trifle, and all would have 
been well — ” 

“ Submit to the sarch !” interrupted Natty, 
raising his face from resting on his knees, without 
rising from the corner where he had seated him- 
self ; “ d’ye think, gal, I would let such a varmint 
into my hut ? No, no — I wouldn’t have opened 


THE PIONIERS. 


513 


the door to your own sweet countenance then. But 
they are wilcome to sarch among the coals and 
ashes now ; they’ll find only some such heap as is 
to be seen at every pot-ashery in the mountains.” 

The old man dropped his face again on one hand, 
and seemed to be lost in a melancholy musing. 

“ The hut can be rebuilt, and made better than 
oefore,” returned Miss Temple ; “ and it shall be 
my office to see it done, when your imprisonment 
is ended.” 

“ Can ye raise the dead, child ?” said Natty, in a 
sorrowful voice ; “ can ye go into the place where 
you’ve laid your fathers, and mothers, and chil- 
dren, and gather together their ashes, and make 
the same men and women of them as afore ? You 
do not know what ’tis to lay your head for more 
than forty years under the cover of the same logs, 
and to look on the same things for the better part 
of a man’s life. You are young yet, child, but you 
are one of the most precious of God’s creaters. I 
had a hope for ye that it might come to pass, but 
it’s all over now ; this put to that, will drive the 
thing quite out of his mina for ever.” 

Miss Temple must have understood the meaning 
of the old man better than the other listeners ; for, 
while Louisa stood innocently by her side, com- 
miserating the griefs of the hunter, the heiress bent 
her head aside, so as to conceal her features from 
the dim light, by her dark tresses. The action and 
the feeling that caused it lasted but a moment, 
when she faced the party, and continued — 

“ Other logs, and better, though, can be had, and 
shall be found for you, my old defender. Your con- 
finement will soon be over, and, before that time ar- 
rives, I shall have a house prepared for you, where 
you may spend the close of your harmless life in 
eas'? and plenty.” 


514 


THE PIONEERS. 


“ Ease and plenty ! house !” repeated Natty, 
slowly. You mean well, gal, you mean well, and 
I quite mourn that it cannot be ; but he has seer, 
me a sight and a laughing-stock for” 

u Damn your stocks,” said Benjamin, flourishing 
his bottle with one hand, from which he had been 
taking hasty and repeated draughts, while he made 
gestures of disdain with the other ; “ who cares for 
his bilboes ? there’s a leg that’s been stuck up an 
end like a gib-boom for an hour, d’ye see, and 
what’s it the worse for’t, ha ! canst tell me, what’s 
it the worser, ha ?” 

“ I believe you forget, Mr. Pump, in whose pre- 
sence you sit with so much composure,” said Eli 
zabeth. 

“ Forget you, Miss ’Lizzy,” returned the stew 
ard ; cc if I do dam’me ; “ you’re not to be forgot, 
like Goody Pretty-bones, up at the big house there. 
I say, old sharp-shooter, she may have pretty 
bones, but I can’t say so much for her flesh, d’ye see, 
for she looks sum’mat like an otomy with another 
man’s jacket on. Now, for the skin of her face, 
it’s all the same as a new top-sail with a taught 
bolt-rope, being snug at the leaches, but all in a 
bight about the inner cloths.” 

“ Peace — I command you to be silent, sir !” said 
Elizabeth. 

“ Ay, ay, ma’am,” returned the steward. “ You 
didn’t say I shouldn’t drink, though.” 

“ We w ill not speak of what is to become of 
others,” said Miss Temple, turning again to the 
hunter — “ but of your owm fortunes, Natty. It shall 
be my care to see that you pass the rest of your 
days in ease and plenty.” 

“ Ease and plenty !” again repeated the Leather- 
locking — “ w hat ease can there be to an old man. 
who must walk a mile across the open fields, befoic 


THE PIONEERS. 


515 

he can find a shade to hide him from a scorching 
sun ! or what plenty is there where you may hunt 
a day, and not start a buck, or see any thing bigger 
than a mink, or maybe a stray fox ! Ah ! I shall 
have a hard time after them very beavers, for this 
fine. I must go low toward the Pennsylvany line 
in sareh of the creaters, maybe a hundred mile, for 
they are not to be got here-away. No, no — your 
betterments and clearings have druv the knowing 
things out of the country ; and instead of beaver- 
dams, which is the nater of the animal, and accord- 
ing to Providence, you turn back the waters over 
the low grounds with you" mill-dams, as if ’twas in 
man to stay the drops from going where He wills 
them to go. — Benny, unless you stop your hand 
from going so often to your mouth, you won’t be 
ready to start when the time comes.” 

u Hark’ee, Master Bump-ho,” ^aid the steward ; 
“ don’t you fear for Ben. When :he watch is call- 
ed, set me on my legs, and give me the bearings 
and distance of where you want to steer, and I’ll 
carry sail with the best of you, I will.” 

“ The time has come now/' said the hunter, lis- 
tening ; u I hear the horns of the e v en rubbing ag’in 
the side of the jail.” 

“ Well, say the word, and then heave ahead, 
shipmate,” said Benjamin. 

cc You won’t betray us, gal ?” said Natty, look- 
ing up simply into the free of Elizabeth — u you 
won’t betray an old man, who craves to breathe the 
clear air of heaven ? I mean no harm, and if the 
■aw says that I must pay the hundred dollars, I’ll 
take the season through, but it shall be forthcom- 
ing ; and this good man will help me.” 

“ You catch them,” said Benjamin, with a sweep- 
ing gesture of his arm, u and if they get away 
again, call me a slink that’s all.” 


516 


THE PIONEERS 


“ But what mean you !” cried the wondering 
Elizabeth. “ Here you must stay for thirty days 
but I have the money for your fine in this purse 
T ake it ; pay it in the morning, and summon pa- 
tience for your month. 1 will come often to see 
you, with my friend ; we will make up your clothes 
with our own hands ; indeed, indeed, you shall be 
comfortable.” 

“ Would ye, children ?” said Natty, advancing 
across the floor with an air of kindness, and taking 
the hand of Elizabeth ; “ would ye be so kearful 
of an old man, and just for shooting the beast which 
cost him nothing ? Such things doesn’t run in the 
blood, I believe, for you seem not to forget a fa- 
vour. Your little fingers couldn’t do much on a 
buck-skin, nor be you used to such a thread as 
sinews. But if he hasn’t got past hearing, he shall 
hear it and know it, that he may see, like me, there 
is some who know how to remember a kindness.’ 

“ Tell him nothing,” cried Elizabeth, earnestly 
“ if you love me, if you regard my feelings, tell 
him nothing. It is of yourself only I would talk, 
and foi yourself only I act. I grieve, Leather- 
stocking, that the law requires that you should be 
detained here so long ; but, after all, it will be only 
a short month, and — ” 

“ A month !” exclaimed Natty, opening his 
mouth with his usual laugh ; “ not a day, nor a 
night, nor an hour, gal. Judge Temple may sin- 
tence, but he can’t keep, without a better dungeon 
than this. I was taken once by the French, and 
they put sixty-two of us in a block-house, nigh 
nand to old Frontinac ; but ’twas easy to cut through 
■i pine log to them that was used to timber.” The 
hunter paused, and looked cautiously around the 
room, when, laughing again, he shoved the stew- 
ard gently from his post, and removing the bed- 


THE PIONEERS. 


517 


clothes, discovered a hole recently cut in the logs 
with a mallet and chisel. “ It’s only a kick, and 
the outside piece is off, and then — ” 

u Off! ay, off !” cried Benjamin, rousing from 
his stupor ; “ well, here’s off. Ay ! ay ! you catch 
’em, and I’ll hold on to them said beaver-hats.” 

u I fear this lad will trouble me much,” said 
Natty ; “ ’twill be a hard pull for the mountain 
should they take the scent soon, and he is not in a 
state of mind to run.” 

u Run !” echoed the steward ; u no, sheer along- 
side, and let’s have a fight of it.” 

“ Peace !” ordered Elizabeth. 
u Ay, ay, ma’am.” 

“ You will not leave us, surely, Leather-stock- 
ing,” continued Miss Temple; “I beseech you, 
reflect that you will be driven to the woods en- 
tirely, and that you are fast getting old. Be pa- 
tient for a little time, when you can go abroad 
openly, and with honour.” 

“ Is there beaver to be catched here, gal ?” 

“ If not, here is money to discharge the fine, 
and in a month you are free. See, here it is in gold.” 

u Gold !” said Natty, with a kind of childish 
curiosity ; “ its long sin’ I’ve seen a gold piece. 
We used to get the broad joes, in the old war, as 
plenty as the bears be now. I remember there 
was a man in Dieskau’s army, that was killed, who 
had a dozen of the shining things sewed up in his 
shirt. I didn’t handle them myself, but I seen 
them cut out, with my own eyes ; they was big- 
ger and brighter than them be.” 

“ These are English guineas, and are yours,” 
said Elizabeth ; “ an earnest of what shall be done 
for you.” 

“ Me ! why should you give me this treasure ?” 
said Natty, looking earnestly at the maiden 
44 


518 


THE PIONEEKS. 


“ Why! have you not saved my life? did you 
not rescue me from the jaws of the beast ?” ex- 
claimed Elizabeth, veiling her eyes, as if to hide 
some hideous object from her view. 

The hunter took the money, and continued turn- 
ing it in his hand for some time, piece by piece, 
talking aloud during the operation. 

u There’s a rifle, they say, out on the Cherry 
Valley, that will carry a hundred rods and kill. 
I’ve seen good guns in my day, but none quite 
equal to that. A hundred rods with any sartainty 
is great shooting ! Well, well — I’m old, and the 
gun I have will answer my time. Here, child, 
take back your gold. But the hour has come ; I 
hear him talking to the cattle, and I must be go- 
ing. You won’t tell of us, gal — you won’t tell of 
us, will ye 

u Tell of you !” echoed Elizabeth, — “ But take 
the money, old man ; take the money, even if you 
go into the mountains.” 

u No, no,” said Natty, shaking his head kindly •, 
“ I wouldn’t rob you so for twenty rifles. But 
there’s one thing you can do for me, if ye will, that 
no other is at hand to do.” 

<c Name it — name it.” 

“ Why, it’s only to buy a canister of powder ; — 
’twill cost two silver dollars. Benny Pump has 
the money ready, but we daren’t come into the 
town to get it. Nobody has it but the French- 
man. ’Tis of the best, and just suits a rifle. Will 
you get it for me, gal ? — say, will you get it for 
me ?” 

“ Will I ! I will bring it to you, Leather-stock 
ing, though I toil a day in quest of you through 
the woods. But where shall I find you, and how ?” 

“ Where !” said Natty, musing a moment — “ to- 
morrow, on the Vision ; on the very top of the Vi- 


THE PIONEERS. 


510 

sion, I’ll meet you, child, just as the sun gets over 
our heads. See that it’s the fine grain ; you’ll 
know it by the gloss, and the price.” 

“ I will do it,” said Elizabeth, firmly. 

Natty now seated himself, and, placing his feet 
in the hole, with a slight effort he opened a pass- 
age through into the street. The ladies heard the 
rustling of hay, and well understood the reason 
why Edwards was in the capacity of a teamster. 

“ Come, Benny,” said the hunter ; “ ’twill be 
no darker to-night, for the moon will rise in an 
hour.” 

“ Stay !” exclaimed Elizabeth ; “ it should not 
be said that you escaped in the presence of the 
daughter of Judge Temple. Return, Leather-stock- 
ing, and let us retire, before you execute your 
plan.” 

Natty was about to reply, when the approaching 
footsteps of the jailer announced the necessity of 
his immediate return. He had barely time to re- 
gain his feet, and to conceal the hole with the bed- 
clothes, across which Benjamin very opportunely 
fell, before the key was turned, and the door of 
the apartment opened. 

“ Isn’t Miss Temple ready to go ?” said the civ il 
jailer — “ it’s the usooal hour for locking up.” 

“ I follow you, sir,” returned Elizabeth, u Good 
night, Leather-stocking.” 

“ It’s a fine grain, gal, and I think ’twill cany 
lead further than common. I am getting old, and 
can’t follow up the game with the step that I used 
to Could.” # 

Miss Temple waved her hand for silence, and 
preceded Louisa and the keeper from the apart- 
ment. The man turned the key once, and ob- 
served that he would return and secure his prison- 
ers, when he had lighted the ladies to the street. 


520 


THE PIONEERS. 


Accordingly, they parted at the door of the build 
ing, when the jailer retired to his dungeons, and 
the ladies walked, with throbbing hearts, towards 
the corner. 

“ Now the Leather-stocking refuses the money,” 
whispered Louisa, “it can all be given to Mr. Ed- 
wards, and that added to” — 

u Listen !” said Elizabeth ; “ I hear the rustling 
of the hay ; they are escaping at this moment. 
Oh ! they will be detected instantly !” 

By this time they were at the corner, where Ed- 
wards and Natty were in the act of drawing the al- 
most helpless body of Benjamin through the aper- 
ture. The oxen had started back from their hay, 
and were standing with their heads down the 
street, leaving room for the party to act in. 

“ Throw the hay into the cart,” said Edwards, 
u or they will suspect how it has been done. 
Quick, that they may not see it.” 

Natty had just returned from executing this or- 
der, when the light of the keeper’s candle shone 
through the hole, and instantly his voice was heard 
in the jail, exclaiming for his prisoners. 

“ What is to be done now ?” said Edwards — 
“ this drunken fellow will cause our detection, ana 
we have not a moment to spare.” 

“ Who’s drunk, ye lubber !” muttered the stew- 
ard. 

u A break-jail ! a break-jail !” shouted five or 
six voices from within. 

u We must leave him,” said Edwards. 

“’Twouldn’t be kind, lad,” returned Natty; 
u he took half the disgrace of the stocks on him- 
self to-day, and the creater has feeling.” 

At this moment two or three men were heard 
issuing from the door of the “ Bold Dragoon,” and 
among them the voice of Billy Kirby. 


THE PIONEERS. 


521 

4 There’s no moon yet,” cried the wood-chop 
per ; u but it’s a clear, moonshiny night. Come, 
who’s for home ? Hark ! what a rumpus they’re 
kicking up in the jail — here’s go and see what it’s 
about.” 

“ We shall be lost,” said Edwards, “ if we don’t 
(hop this man.” 

At that instant Elizabeth moved close to him, 
and said rapidly, in a low voice — 

“ Lay him in the cart, and start the oxen ; no one 
will look there.” 

“ By heaven, there’s a woman’s quickness in 
the thought,” said the youth. 

The proposition was no sooner made than exe- 
cuted. The steward was seated on the hay, and 
bid to hold his peace, and apply the goad that was 
placed in his hand, while the oxen were urged on. 
So soon a«? this arrangement was completed, Ed- 
wards and the hunter stole along the houses for a 
short distance, when they disappeared through an 
opening that led into the rear of the buildings. The 
oxen were in brisk motion, and presently the cries 
of pursuit were heard in the street. The ladies 
quickened their pace, with a wish to escape the 
crowd of constables and idlers that were approach 
ing, some execrating, and some laughing at the ex- 
ploit of the prisoners. In the confusion, the voice 
of Kirby was plainly distinguishable above all the 
others, shouting and swearing that he would have 
the fugitives, threatening to bring back Natty in 
one pocket and Benjamin in the other. 

“ Spread yourselves, men,” he cried, as he pass- 
ed the ladies, with his heavy feet sounding along 
the street like the tread of a dozen ; “ spread your- 
selves ; to the mountains ; they’ll be in the moun- 
tain in a quarter of an hour, and then look cut for a 
long rifle.” 


4 1 * 


522 


THE PIONEERS. 


His cries were echoed from twenty mouths, foi 
not only the jail, but the taverns had sent forth their 
numbers, some earnest in the pursuit, and others 
joining it as in sport. 

As Elizabeth turned in at her father’s gate, she 
saw the wood-chopper stop at the cart, when she 
gave Benjamin up for lost. While they were hur- 
rying up the walk, two figures, stealing cautiously 
but quickly under the shades of the trees, met the 
eyes of the ladies, and in a moment Edwards and 
the hunter crossed their path. 

u Miss Temple, I may never see you again,” ex- 
claimed the youth ; “ let me thank you for all your 
kindness ; you do not, cannot know, my motives.” 

“ Fly ! fly !” cried Elizabeth — “ the village is 
alarmed. Do not be found conversing with me at 
such a moment, and in these grounds.” 

“ Nay, I must speak, though detection were cer- 
tain.” 

u Your retreat to the bridge is already cut off; 
before you can gain the wood your pursuers will 
be there. — If” 

u If what ?” cried the youth. “ Your advice has 
saved me once already ; I will follow it to death.” 

“ The street is now silent and vacant,” said Eli- 
zabeth, after a pause ; u cross it, and you will find 
my father’s boat in the lake. It would be easy for 
you to land from it where you pleased in the 
hills.” 

“ But Judge Temple might complain of the tres- 
pass.” 

u His daughter shall be accountable, sir.” 

The youth uttered something in a low voice, that 
was heard only by Elizabeth, and turned to exe- 
cute what she had suggested. As they were sepa- 
rating, Natty approached the heiress, and said — 

“ You’ll remember the canister of powder, chil* 


THE PIONEERS. 


523 


dren. Them beavers must be had, and I and the 
pups be getting old ; we want the best of ammu- 
nition.” 

u Come, Natty,” said Edwards, impatiently. 

“ Coming, lad, coming. God bless you, young 
ones, both of ye, for ye mean well and kindly to 
the old man.” 

The ladies paused until they lost sight of the re- 
treating figures, when they immediately entered 
the Mansion-house. 

While this scene was passing in the walk, Kirby 
had overtaken the cart, which was his own, and 
had been driven by Edwards without asking the 
owner, from the place where the patient oxen 
usually stood at evening, waiting the pleasure of 
their master. 

w Woa — come hither, Golden,” he cried ; “ why, 
how come you off the end of the bridge, where 1 
left you, dummies ?” 

“ Heave ahead/’ muttered Benjamin, giving a 
random blow with his lash, that alighted on the 
shoulder of the other. 

“ Who the devil be you ?” cried Billy, turning 
round in surprise, but unable to distinguish, in the 
dark, the hard visage that was just peering over 
the cart-rails. 

“ Who be I ! why I’m helmsman aboard of this 
here craft, d’ye see, and a straight wake I’m mak- 
ing of it. Ay ! ay ! I’ve got the bridge right ahead, 
and the bilboes dead-aft ; I calls that good steer- 
age, boy. Heave ahead.” 

“ Lay your lash in the right spot, Mr. Benny 
Pump,” said the wood-chopper, u or I’ll put you 
in the palm of my hand, and box your ears. Where 
be you going with my team ?” 

“ Team !” 

u Ay, my cart and oxen.” 


524 


THE PIONEERS. 


“ Why, you must know, Master Kirby, that the 
Leather-stocking and I — that’s Benny Pump — you 
knows Ben ? — well, Benny and I — no, me and 
Benny ; dam-me if I know how ’tis ; but some of 
us are bound after a cargo of beaver-skins, d’ye 
see, and so we’ve pressed the cart to ship them 
’ome in. I say, Master Kirby, what a lubberly 
oar you pull — you handle an oar, boy, pretty much 
as a cow would a musket, or a lady would a mar- 
ling-spike.” 

Billy had discovered the state of the steward’s 
mind, and he walked for some time alongside of 
the cart, musing with himself, when he took the 
goad from Benjamin, ( who fell back on the hay, 
and was soon asleep, ), and drove his cattle down 
the street, over the bridge, and up the mountain, 
towards a clearing in which he was to work the 
next day, without any other interruption than a 
few hasty questions from parties of the constables. 

Elizabeth stood for an hour at the window of her 
room, and saw the torches of the pursuers gliding 
along the side of the mountain, and heard their 
shouts and alarms ; but, at the end of that time, the 
last party returned, wearied and disappointed, and 
the village became again still as when she issued 
from the gate on her mission to the jail. 


CHAPTER XXXVI. 


And I could weep’ — th' Oneida cnio. 

His descant wildly thus begun — 

But that 1 may not stain with grief 
The death song of my father’s son.’ ” 

Gertrude of Wyoming 


It was yet early on the following morning, when 
Elizabeth and Louisa met by appointment, and 
proceeded to the store of Monsieur Le Quoi, in 
order to redeem the pledge that the former had 
given to the Leather-stocking. The people were 
again assembling for the business of the day, but 
the hour was too soon for a crowd, and the ladies 
found the place in possession only of its polite 
owner, Billy Kirby, one female customer, and the 
boy who did the duty of helper or clerk. 

Monsieur Le Quoi was perusing a packet of let- 
ters with manifest delight, while the wood-chop- 
per, with one hand thrust into his bosom, and the 
other in the folds of his jacket, holding an axe un- 
der his right arm, stood sympathizing in the French- 
man’s pleasure with a good-natured interest. The 
freedom of manners that prevailed in the new 7 set- 
tlements, commonly levelled all difference in rank, 
and with it, frequently, all considerations of educa^ 
tion and intelligence. At the time the ladies en- 


626 


THE PIONEERS. 


tered the stoie, they were unseen by the owner, 
who was saying to Kirby — 

“ Ah ! ha ! Monsieur Beel, dis lettair mak-a me 
de most happi of mans. Ah f ma chere France ! 1 
vill see you aga’n.” 

“ I rejoice, Monsieur, at any thing that contri- 
butes to your happiness,” cried Elizabeth, “ but 
must hope we are not going to lose you entirely.” 

“ Ah ! Ma’mselle Tempi’ ! vat honneur I feel to 
me ; mais I ’ave lettair, dat mak-a mon cceur sautez 
de joie. Ah ! Ma’mselle Tempi’, if you ’ave pere, 
'ave mere, ’ave leetl’ — Jean-tone, vy you don’t 
’and de ladi a pins, eh ! — if you ’ave amis beeg and 
leetl’ you voud be glad to go back. Attendez vous, 
Ma’mselle, si vous plais ; je vous lirai. 6 A Monsieur 
Monsieur Le Quoi, de Mersereau a Templetone, 
Noo Yorck, les Etats Unis d’Amerique. Tres 

cher ami. Je suis ravis” 

“ I apprehend that my French is not equal to 
your letter, Monsieur,” said Elizabeth, glancing 
her eye expressively at her companion ; “ will you 
favour us with its substance in English ?” 

“ Oh ! pardonnez moi — I ’ave been so long 
from Paris dat I do forget de — a — a — a — pronun- 
shasshong. You will ’ave consideration pour moi, 
and vill excusez my read in France,” returned the 
polite Gaul, bowing with deep humility, as if la- 
menting his ignorance of his own language ; u mais 
I shall tell you en bon Anglois. I ’ave offeece a 
Paris, in Bureau, dans le temps du bon Louis ; 1 
fly ; run avay to sav-a my ’ead. I ’ave in Mar- 
tinique von leetl’ plantation pour sucre — ah ! ha ! — 
vat you call in dis countray — ah ! ha ! — Monsieu/ 
Beel, vat you call de place vere you vork-a ? eh ?” 

“ Clearing,” said the wood-chopper, with a kind 
nod. 


THE PIONEERS. 


527 


*‘ No, no, clear — vere you burn-a my troat, eh !” 

Billy hitched up his shoulder, and turned his 
eyes askance at the ladies, with a broad grin on his 
face, as he answered — 

u I guess ’tis a sugar-bush that the Mounsheer 
means ; — but you musn’t take that to heart, man ; 
’tis the law of the woods.” 

u Ah ! coquin, I pardonne you,” returned the 
Frenchman, placing his hand involuntarily on his 
throat — “ diable ! de law should be altair. Mais, I 
’ave sucre-boosh in Martinique : I fly dere too ; — 
I come ici ; — votre pere help-a-me ; — I grow reech 
— yais ! I grow reech ; mais I ’ave not France ! — 
L’Assemblee Nationale pass von edict” 

u What’s that ?” interrupted Billy, who was en- 
deavouring, with much interest, to comprehend the 
story. 

“ Eh ! vat dat ? vy vat you call, ven de Assem 
blee d’ Alban’ mak-a de law ?” 

“ That’s an act of the Legyslatoore,” said Kir- 
by, with the readiness of an American on such a 
subject. 

“ Veil ! dis vas act of Legyslatoore, to restorer 
my land ; my charactair ; my sucre-boosh ; and ma 
country. Ah ! Ma’mselle Tempi’, je suis enchan- 
tie ! mais I ’ave grief to leav-a you ; Oh ! yais ! I 
’ave grief ver mooch.” 

The amount of all this was, that Mr. Le Quoi, 
who had fled from his own country more through 
terror than because he was offensive to the ruling 
powers in France, had succeeded at length in get- 
ting an assurance, that his return to the West-In- 
dies would be unnoticed ; and the Frenchman, 
who had sunk into the character of a country 
shop-keeper, with so much grace, was about to 
Emerge again from his obscurity into nis proper 
level in society. 


528 


THE PIONEERS. 


We need not repeat the civil things that passed 
between the parties on this occasion, nor lecount 
the endless repetitions of sorrow that the delighted 
Frenchman expressed, at being compelled to quit 
ther society of Miss Temple. Elizabeth took an 
opportunity, during this expenditure o 1 polite ex- 
pressions, to purchase the powder privately of the 
boy, who bore the generic appellation of Jonathan. 
Before they parted, however, Mr. Le Quoi, who 
seemed to think that he had not said enough, so- 
licited the honour of a private interview with the 
heiress, with a gravity in his air that announced the 
importance of the subject. After conceding the 
favour, and appointing a more favourable time for 
the meeting, Elizabeth succeeded in getting out of 
the store, into which the countrymen now began 
to enter, as usual, where they met with the same 
attention and bienseance as formerly. 

Elizabeth and Louisa pursued their walk as far 
as the bridge in profound silence, but when they 
reached that place, the latter stopped, and appeared 
anxious to utter something that her feelings sup- 
pressed. 

u Are you ill, Louisa ?” exclaimed Miss Tem- 
ple ; “ had we not better return, and seek another 
opportunity to meet the old man ?” 

w Not ill, but terrified. Oh ! 1 never, never 
can go on that hill again with you only. I am not 
equal to it, indeed I am not.” 

This was an unexpected declaration to Eliza- 
oeth, who, although she experienced no idle ap- 
prehensions of a danger that no longer existed, felt 
most sensitively all the delicacies of maiden mo- 
desty. She stood for some time, deeply reflecting 
within herself, the colour gradually gathering over 
her features at her own thoughts ; but, as if sen- 
sible that it was a time for action instead of re 


THE PIONEERS. 


52 G 


flection, she struggled to shake off her hesitation, 
and replied firmly — 

u Well, then it must be done by me, and alone. 
There is no other than yourself to be trusted, or 
poor old Leather-stocking will be discovered. 
Wait for me in the edge of these woods, that at 
least I may not be seen strolling in the hills by 
myself just now. One would not wish to create 
remarks, Louisa — if — if — You will wait for me, 
dear girl ?” 

“ A year, in sight of the village, Miss Temple,” 
returned the agitated Louisa, u but do not, do not 
ask me to go on that hill.” 

Elizabeth found that her companion was really 
unable to proceed, and they completed their ar- 
rangement by posting Louisa out of the observa- 
tion of the people who occasionally passed, but 
nigh to the road, and in plain view of the whole 
valley. Miss Temple then proceeded alone. She 
ascended the road which has been so often men- 
tioned in our narrative, with an elastic and firm 
step, fearful that the delay in the store of Mr. Le 
Quoi, and the time necessary for reaching the sum- 
mit, would prevent her being punctual to the ap- 
pointment. Whenever she passed an opening in 
the bushes, she would pause for breath, or, per- 
haps, drawn from her pursuits by the picture at her 
feet, would linger a moment to gaze at the beauties 
of the valley. The long drought had, however, 
changed its coat of verdure to a hue of brown, and, 
though the same localities were there, the view- 
wanted the lively and cheering aspect ol early 
summer. Even the heavens seemed to share in 
the dried appearance of the earth, for the sun was 
concealed by a haziness in the atmosphere, which 
looked like a thin smoke without a particle of 
moisture, if such a thing were possible. The blue 
45 


530 


THE PIONEERS. 


sky was scarcely to be seen, though now and then 
there was a faint lighting up in spots, through which 
masses of rolling vapour could be discerned ga- 
thering around the horizon, as if nature were strug- 
gling to collect her floods for the relief of man. 
The very atmosphere that Elizabeth inhaled was 
hot and dry, and by the time she reached the point 
where the course led her from the highway, she 
experienced a sensation like suffocation. But, dis- 
regarding her feelings, t|j§ heiress hastened to ex- 
ecute her mission, dwelling in her thoughts on no- 
thing but the disappointment, and even the help- 
lessness, the hunter would experience, without her 
aid. 

On the summit of the mountain which Judge 
Temple had named the u Vision,” a little spot had 
been cleared, in order that a better view might be 
obtained of the village and the valley. It was at 
this point that Elizabeth understood the hunter she 
was to meet him ; and thither she urged her way, 
as expeditiously as the difficulty of the ascent and 
the impediments of a forest in a state of nature 
would admit. Numberless were the fragments of 
rocks, trunks of fallen trees, and branches, that she 
had to contend against ; but every difficulty va- 
nished before her resolution, and, by her own 
watch, she stood on the desired spot several mi- 
nutes before the appointed hour. 

After resting a moment on the end of a log, Miss 
Temple cast a scrutinizing glance about her in 
quest of her old friend, but he was evidently not 
in the clearing ; when she arose and walked around 
its skirts, examining every place where she thought 
it probable Natty might deem it prudent to con- 
ceal himself. Her search was fruitless , and, af- 
ter exhausting not only herself, but her thoughts, 
in efforts to discover or imagine his situation. 


THE PIONEERS. 


53 ] 


she ventured to trust her voice in that solitary 
place. 

44 Natty ! Leather-stocking ! old mSn f ” she call- 
ed aloud, in every direction ; but no answer was 
given, excepting the reverberations of her own 
clear tones, as they were echoed in the parched 
forest. 

While calling, Elizabeth gradually approached 
the brow of the mountain, where a faint cry, like 
the noise produced by striking the hand against the 
mouth, at the same time that the breath is strongly 
exhaled, was heard, answering to her own voice. 
Not doubting in the least, that it was the Leather- 
stocking lying in wait for her, and who gave that 
signal to indicate the place where he was to be 
found, Elizabeth descended for near a hundred 
feet, until she gained a little natural terrace, thinly 
scattered with trees, that grew in the fissures of 
the rocks, which were covered by a scanty soil. 
She had advanced to the edge of this platform, 
and was gazing over the perpendicular precipice 
that formed its face, when a rustling among the 
dry leaves near her drew her eyes in another di- 
rection. Miss Temple certainly was startled by 
the object that she then saw, but a moment re- 
stored her self-possession, and she advanced firm- 
ly, and with some interest in her manner, to the 
spot. 

On the trunk of a fallen oak Mohegan was seat- 
ed, with his tawny visage turned towards her, and 
his glaring eyes fixed on her face with an expres- 
sion of wildness and fire, that would have terrified 
a less resolute female. His blanket had fallen from 
his shoulders, and was lying in folds around him. 
leaving his breast, arms, and most of his body bare 
The medallion of Washington reposed on his chest, 
a badge of distinction that Elizabeth well knew he 


532 


O’HE PIONEERS. 


only produced on great and solemn occasions. But 
the whole appearanbe of the aged chief was more 
studied than 'common, and was in some particulars 
terrific. The long black hair was plaited on his 
head, falling either way so as to expose his high 
forehead and piercing eyes, without their usual 
shading. In the enormous incisions of his ears 
were entwined ornaments of silver, beads, and por- 
cupine’s quills, mingled in a rude taste, and after 
the Indian fashions. A large drop, composed of 
similar materials, was suspended from the cartilage 
of .his nose, and, falling below his lips, rested on 
nis chin. Streaks of red paint crossed his wrin- 
kled brow, and were traced down either cheek, 
with such variations in the lines as caprice or cus- 
om suggested. His body was also coloured in the 
same manner ; the whole exhibiting an Indian war- 
rior prepared for some event of more than usual 
moment. 

“ John ! how fare you, worthy John ?” said Eli- 
zabeth, as she approached' him ; a you have long 
been a stranger in the village. You promised me 
a willow basket, and I have had a shirt of calico in 
readiness for you this month past.” 

The Indian looked steadily at her for some time 
without answering, and then, shaking his head, he 
replied, in his low, guttural tones — 

“ John’s hand can make baskets no more — he 
wants no shirt.’’ 

“ But if he should, he will know where to come 
•for it,” returned Miss Temple. “ Indeed, old John, 
I feel as if you had a natural right to order what 
you will from us.” 

“ Daughter,” said the Indian, “ listen : — Six 
times ten hot summers have passed, since John was 
young ; tall like a pine ; straight like the bullet of 
Hawk-eye; strong as the buffalo ; spry as the cat 


THE PIONEERS. 


533 


of the mountain. He was strong, and a warrior 
like the Young Eagle. If his tribe wanted to track 
the Maquas for many suns, the eye of Chin- 
gachgook found the print of their moccasins. If 
the people feasted and were glad as they counted 
the scalps of their enemies, it was on his pole they 
hung. If the squaw s cried because there was no 
meat for their children, he was the first in the 
chase. His bullet w^as swifter than the deer. — 
Daughter, then Chingachgook struck his tomahawk 
into the trees ; it was to tell the lazy ones where 
to find him and the Mingoes — but he made no 
baskets.” 

u Those times have gone by, old warrior,” re- 
turned Elizabeth ; u since then, your people have 
disappeared, and in place of chasing your enemies, 
you have learned to fear God and to live at peace.” 

“ Stand here, daughter, where you can- see the 
great spring, the wigwams of your father, and the 
land on the crooked-river. John was yet young, 
when his tribe gave away the country, in council, 
from where the blue mountain stands above the 
water, to where the Susquehannah is hid by the 
trees. All this, and all that grew in it, and all that 
walked over it, and all that fed there, they gave to 
the Fire-eater — for they loved him. He was 
strong, and they were women, and he helped them. 
No Delaware would kill a deer that run in his 
woods, nor stop a bird that flew over his land ; for 
it was his. Has John lived in peace ? Daughter, 
since John was young, he has seen the white man 
from Frontinac come down on his white brothers 
at Albany, and fight. Did they fear God? He 
has seen his English and his American Fathers 
ourying their tomahawks in each other’s brains, 
for this very land. Did they fear God, and live in 
peace ? He has seen the land pass aw ay from the 
45 * 


534 


THU PIONEERS. 


Fire- ;ater, and his children, and the child ot his 
child, and a new chief set over the country. Did 
tliej live in peace who did this ? did they fear 
God?” 

u Such is the custom of the whites, John. Do 
not the Delawares fight, and trade their lands for 
powder, and blankets, and merchandise ?” 

The Indian turned his dark eyes on the heiress, 
and kept them there, with a scrutiny that alarmed 
her a little, as he replied, in a louder and more 
animated voice — 1 

u Where are the blankets and merchandise that 
bought the right of the Fire-eater ? are they with 
him in his wigwam ? Did they say to him, Bro- 
ther, sell us your land, and take this gold, this 
silver, these blankets, these rifles, or even this 
rum, for it ? No ; they tore it from him, as a scalp 
is torn from an enemy ; and they that did it looked 
not behind them, to see whether he lived or died. 
Do such men live in peace, and fear the Great 
Spirit ?” 

“ But you hardly understand the circumstances,” 
said Elizabeth, more embarrassed than she would 
own, even to herself. u If you knew our laws and 
customs better, you would judge differently of our 
acts. Do not believe evil of my father, old Mo- 
hegan, for he is just and good.” 

u The brother of Miquon is good, and he will 
do right. I have said it to Hawk-eye — I have said 
it to the Young Eagle, that the brother of Miquon 
would do justice.” 

“ Whom call you the Young Eagle ?” said Eli- 
zabeth, averting her face from the gaze of the In- 
dian as she asked the question ; u whence comes 
he, and what are his rights ?” 

“ Has my daughter lived so long with him, to 
ask this question ?” returned the Indian, warily 


THE PIONEERS. 


535 


* l Old age freezes up the blood, as the frosts cover 
the great spring id winter ; but youth keeps the 
streams of the blood open, like a sun in the time 
of blossoms. The Young Eagle has eyes ; had he 
no tongue ?” 

The loveliness to which the old warrior alluded 
was in no degree diminished by his allegorical 
speech ; for the blushes of the maiden who lis- 
tened, covered her burning cheeks, till her dark 
eyes seemed to glow with their reflection ; but, 
after struggling a moment with her shame, she 
laughed, as if unwilling to understand him seri- 
ously, and replied in a tone of pleasantry — 

Not to make me the mistress of his secret. 
He is too much of a Delaware, to tell his secret 
thoughts to a woman.” 

“ Daughter, the Great Spirit made your father 
with a white skin, and he made mine with a red ; 
but he coloured both their hearts with blood. 
When young, it is swift and warm ; but when old, 
it is still and cold. Is there difference below the 
skin ? No. Once John had a woman. She was 
the mother of so many sons” — he raised his hand 
with three fingers elevated — “ and she had daugh- 
ters that would have made the young Delawares 
happy. She was kind, daughter, and what I said 
she did. You have different fashions ; but do you 
think John did not love the wife of his youth — the 
mother of his children !” 

u And what has become of your family, John, 
your wife and your children ?” asked Elizabeth, 
touched by the melancholy of the Indian’s man 
ner. 

u Where is the ice that covered the great spring ? 
t is melted, and gone with the waters. John has 
lived till all his people have left him for the land 
of spirits ; but his time has come, and he is ready.” 


536 


THE PIONEERS. 


Mohegan dropped his head in his blanket, and 
sat in silence. Miss Temple knew not what to 
say. She wished to draw the thoughts of the old 
warrior from his gloomy recollections, but there 
was a dignity in his sorrow, and in his fortitude, 
that repressed her efforts to speak again, for some 
time. After a long pause, however, she renewed 
the discourse, by asking — 

“ Where is the Leather-stocking, John ? this 
canister of powder I have brought at his request ; 
but he is nowhere to be seen. Will you take 
charge of it, and see it delivered ?” 

The Indian raised his* head slowly, and looked 
earnestly at the gift of the heiress, which she put 
in his hand. 

“ This is the great enemy of my nation. With- 
out this, when could the white men drive the De- 
lawares ! Daughter, the Great Spirit gave youi 
fathers to know how to make guns and powder, 
that they might sweep the Indians from the land. 
There will soon be no red-skin in the country. 
When John has gone, the last will leave these hills, 
and all his family will be dead.” The aged war- 
rior stretched his body forward, leaning his elbow 
on his knee, and appeared to be taking a parting 
look at the objects of the vale, which were still 
visible through the misty atmosphere ; though the 
air seemed to thicken at each moment around Miss 
Temple, who became conscious of an increased 
difficulty of respiration. The eye of Mohegan 
changed gradually from its sorrowful expression 
to a look of wildness, that might be supposed to 
border on the inspiration of a prophet, as he con- 
tinued — u But he will go to the country where his 
fathers have met. The game shall be plenty as 
the fish in the lakes. No woman shall cry for 
meat. No Mingo can ‘ever come. The chase shall 


THE FIONEERS. 


537 


be for children, and all just red-men shall live to- 
gether as brothers.” 

“John ! this is not the heaven of a Christian !” 
cried Miss Temple ; u you deal now in the super- 
stition of your forefathers.” 

“ Fathers! sons!” said Mohegan with firmness 
— “ all gone — all gone ! — I have no son but the 
Young Eagle, and he has the blood of a white man.” 

u Tell me, John,” said Elizabeth, willing to 
draw his thoughts to other subjects, and at the 
same time yielding to her own secret interest in 
the youth ; “ who is this Mr. Edwards ? why are 
you so fond of him, and whence does he come ?” 

The Indian started at the question, which evi- 
dently recalled his recollection to the earth, and, 
taking her hand, he drew Miss Temple to a seat 
beside him, and pointed to the country beneath 
them, before he answered — 

“ See, daughter,” he said, directing her looks 
towards the north ; u as far as your young-eyes can 
see, was the land of his” — 

But immense volumes of smoke at that moment 
rolled over their heads, and, whirling in the ed- 
dies formed by the mountains, interposed a barrier 
to their sight, while he was speaking. Startled by 
this circumstance, Miss Temple sprung on her feet, 
and turning her eyes toward the summit of the moun- 
tain, she beheld it covered by a similar canopy, 
while a roaring sound was heard in the forest above 
her, like the rushing of furious winds. 

u What means it, John !” she exclaimed ; u we 
are enveloped in smoke, and I feel a heat like the 
glow of a furnace.” 

Before the Indian could reply, a voice was heard, 
crying in the woods, with a painful anxiety — 

“ John ! where are you, old Mohegan ! the 


THE PIOUEEIIS. 


£38 

woods are on fire, and you have but a few minutes 
for escape.” 

The chief put his hand before his mouth, and 
making it play on his lips, produced the kind of 
noise that had attracted Elizabeth to the place, 
when a quick and hurried step was heard dashing 
through the dried underbrush and bushes, and pre- 
sently Edwards rushed to his side, with horror 
painted in every feature. 


CHAPTEB XXXVII. 


“ Love rules the court, the camp, the grove.” 

Lay of the Last Minstrel- 


u It would have been sad indeed, to lose you in 
such a manner, my old friend,” said Oliver, catch- 
ing his breath for utterance. Up and away ! even 
now we may be too late ; the flames are circling 
round the point of the rock below, and, unless we 
can pass there, our only chance must be over the 
precipice. Away ! away ! shake off* your apathy, 
John, for now is the time of need.” 

Mohegan pointed towards Elizabeth, who, for- 
getting her danger, had shrunk back to a projec- 
tion of the rock, so soon as she recognised the 
sounds of Edward’s voice, and said with something 
like awakened animation — 

“ Save her — leave John to die.” 
u Her ! whom mean you ?” cried the youth, 
turning quickly to the place the other indicated ; 
— but when he saw the figure of Elizabeth, bend- 
ing toward him in an attitude that powerfully spoke 
hei terror, blended with her reluctance to meet 
him in such a place, the shock for a moment de- 
prived him of speech. 

u Miss Temple !” he cried, when he found 
words ; u vou here ! is such a death reserved for 
you !” 


540 


THE PIOxVEERS. 


<c No, no, no — no death, I hope, for any of us, 
Mr. Edwards,” she replied, endeavouring to speak 
calmly, and rallying her thoughts for the-emergen- 
cy. “ There is smoke, but still no fire to harm us. 
Let us endeavour to retire.” 

“ Take my arm,” said Edwards ; “ there must 
be an opening in some direction for your retreat 
Are you equal to the effort ?” 

“ Certainly. You surely magnify the danger, 
Mr. Edwards. Lead me out the way you came.” 

“ I will — I will,” cried the youth, with a kind 
of hysterical utterance. “ No, no — there is no 
danger — I have alarmed you unnecessarily.” 

u But shall we leave the Indian — can we leave 
him here, as he says, to die ?” 

An expression of painful emotion crossed the face 
of the young man, who stopped, and cast a longing 
look at Mohegan ; but, dragging his companion after 
him, even against her will, he pursued his way, 
with enormous strides, toward the pass by which 
he had just entered the circle of flame. 

“ Do not regard him,” he said, in those horrid 
tones that denote a desperate calmness ; <l he is 
used to the woods, and such scenes ; he will escape 
up the mountain— over the rock — or he can remain 
where he is in safety.” 

“You thought not so this moment, Edwards ! — 
Do not leave him there to meet with such a death,” 
cried Elizabeth, fixing a look on the countenance 
of her conductor, that seemed to distrust his sa- 
nity. 

“ An Indian burn 1 who ever heard of an Indian 
dying by fire ? an Indian cannot burn ; the idea is 
ridiculous. Hasten, hasten, Miss Temple, or the 
smoke may incommode you.” 

u Edwards ! your look, your eye, terrifies me 1 


THE PIONEERS. 


541 


tell me the danger ; is it greater than it seems ? I 
am equal to any trial.” 

“ If we reach the point of yon rock before that 
sheet of fire, we are safe, Miss Temple !” exclaim- 
ed the young man, in a voice that burst without 
the bounds of his forced composure. tc Fly ! the 
struggle is for your life !” 

The place of the interview between Miss Tem- 
ple and the Indian has been already described as 
one of those platforms of rock, which form a sort of 
terrace in the mountains of that country, and the 
face of it, we have said, was both high and per- 
pendicular. Its shape was nearly a natural arc, the 
ends of which blended with the mountain, at points 
where its sides were less abrupt in their descent. 
It was round one of these terminations of the sweep 
of the rock that Edwards had ascended, and it was 
toward the same place that he urged Elizabeth to 
a desperate exertion of her speed. 

Immense clouds of white smoke had been pour- 
ing over the summit of the mountain, and had con- 
cealed the approach and ravages of the element ; 
but a crackling sound drew the eyes of Miss Tem- 
ple, as she flew over the ground, supported by the 
young man, towards the outline of smoke, where 
she already perceived the waving flames shooting 
forward from the vapour, now flaring high in the 
air, and then bending to the earth, seeming to light 
into combustion every stick and shrub on which 
they breathed. The sight aroused them both tc 
redoubled efforts ; but, unfortunately, there was a 
collection of the tops of trees, old and dried, which 
lay directly across their course ; and, at the very 
moment when both had thought their safety en- 
sured, an eddying of the warm currents of the air 
swept a forked tongue of flame across the pile, 
which lighted at the touch ; and when they reach- 
46 


542 


THE PIONEERS. 


ed the spot, the flying pair were opposed by the 
surly roaring of a body of fire, as if a furnace were 
glowing in their path. They recoiled from 'the 
heat, and stood on a point of the rock, gazing in a 
sort of stupor at the flames, which were spreading 
rapidly down the mountain, whose side soon be- 
came a sheet of living fire. It was dangerous for 
one clad in the light and airy dress of Elizabeth to 
approach even to the vicinity of the raging ele- 
ment ; and those flowing robes, that gave such 
softness and grace to her form, seemed now to be 
formed for the instruments of her destruction. 

The villagers were accustomed to resort to that 
hill in quest of timber and fuel ; in procuring which, 
it was their usage to take only the bodies of the 
trees, leaving the tops and branches to decay under 
the operations of the weather. Much of the hill 
was, consequently, covered with such light fuel for 
he flames, which, having been scorching under the 
sun for the last two months, ignited with a touch. 
Indeed, in some cases, there did not appear to be 
any contact between the fire and these piles, but 
the flames seemed to dart from heap to heap, as 
the fabulous fire of the temple is represented to 
relumine its neglected lamp. 

There was beauty as well as terror in the sight, 
and Elizabeth and the youth stood viewing the 
progress of the desolation, with a strange mixture 
of horror and interest. Edwards, however, short- 
ly roused himself to new exertions, and drawing 
his companion after him, they skirted the edge of 
the smoke, the young man penetrating frequently 
into its dense volumes in search of a passage, but 
in every instance without success. In this man- 
ner they proceeded in a semicircle around the up- 
per part of the terrace, until, arriving at the verge 
of the precipice, opposite to the point where Ed 


THE PIONEERS 


543 


wards had ascended, the horrid conviction burst 
on both at the same instant, that they were com- 
pletely encircled by the fire. So long as a single 
pass up or down the mountain was unexplored, 
hope had invigorated them with her secret influ- 
ence ; but when retreat seemed to be absolutely 
impracticable, the horror of their situation broke 
upon Elizabeth as powerfully as if she had hither- 
to considered the danger nothing. 

u This mountain is doomed to be fatal to me !” 
she whispered, rather than uttered aloud ; — u we 
shall find our graves on it !” 

“ Say not so, Miss Temple ; there is yet hope,” 
returned the youth, in the same tone, while the 
vacant, horrid expression of his eye contradicted 
his words ; u let us return to the point of the rock ; 
there is, there must be, some place about it where 
we can descend.” 

“ Lead me there,” exclaimed Elizabeth ; “ let 
us leave no effort untried.” She did not wait for 
his compliance, but, turning, retraced her steps to 
the brow of the precipice, murmuring to herself, 
in suppressed, hysterical sobs, u My father ! — my 
poor, my distracted father !” 

Edwards was by her side in an instant, and with 
aching eyes he examined into every fissure in the 
crags, in quest of some opening that might offer 
the facilities of flight. But the smooth, even sur- 
face of the rocks afforded hardly a resting place 
for a foot, much less those continued projections 
which would have been necessary for a descent of 
nearly a hundred feet. Edwards was not slow in 
feeling the conviction that this hope was also fu- 
tile, and, with a kind of feverish despair, that still 
urged him to action, he turned to some new expe- 
dient. 


544 


THE PIONEERS. 


u There is nothing left, Miss Temple,” he said / 
in a hollow accent, “ but to lower you from this 
place to the rock beneath. If Natty were here, 
or even that Indian could be roused, their ingenui- 
ty and long practice would easily devise methods 
by which to do it ; but I am a child, at this mo- 
ment, in every thing but daring. Where shall 1 
find means ? This dress of mine is so light, and 
there is so little of it — then the blanket of Mohe- 
gan — We must try — we must try — any thing is 
better than to see you a victim to such a death !” 

“ And what shall become of you !” said Eliza- 
beth. “ Indeed, indeed, neither you nor John 
must be the sacrifice to my safety.” 

He heard her not, for he was already by the 
side of Mohegan, who yielded his blanket without 
a question, retaining his seat with Indian dignity 
and composure, though his own situation was even 
more critical than that of the others. The blanket 
was cut into shreds, and the fragments fastened to- 
gether ; the loose linen jacket of the youth, and 
the light muslin shawl of Elizabeth, were attached 
to them, and the whole thrown over the rocks, 
with the rapidity of lightning ; but the united 
pieces did not reach half way to the bottom. 

“ It will not do — it will not do !” cried Eliza- 
beth ; “ for me there is no hope ! The fire comes 
slowly, but certainly. See ! it destroys the very 
earth before it !” 

Had the flames spread on that rock with half the 
quickness with which they leaped from bush to 
tree, in other parts of the mountain, our painful 
task would have soon ended' ; for they would have 
swept off the victims, who were suffering doubly 
under the anticipations of their approaching fate. 
But the peculiarity of their situation afforded Eli- 


THE PIONEERS. 


545 


zabeth and her companion the respite, of which 
they availed themselves to make the efforts we 
have recorded. 

The thin covering of earth ovei the rock on which 
they stood supported but a scanty and faded herb- 
age, and most of the trees that had found root in the 
fissures had already died, during the intense heats 
of preceding summers. Those which still retained 
the appearance of life, bore a few dry and wither- 
ed leaves, that were drained of their nourishment ; 
while the others were merely the wrecks of pines, 
oaks, and maples. No better materials to feed the 
fire could be found, had there been a communica- 
tion with the flames ; but the ground was destitute 
of the leaves and boughs that led the destructive 
element like a torrent over the remainder of the 
hill. As auxiliary to this scarcity of fuel, there 
was one of the large springs which abound in that 
country, gushing out of the side of the ascent above, 
which, after creeping sluggishly along the level 
land, saturating the mossy covering of the rock 
with moisture, swept round the base of the little 
cone that formed the pinnacle of the mountain, 
and, entering the canopy of smoke near one of the 
terminations of the terrace, found its way to the 
lake, not by dashing from rock to rock, but by the 
secret channels of the earth. It would rise to the 
surface, here and there, in the wet seasons, when 
it exhibited a mimic torrent, overflowing the ground 
for some distance ; but in the droughts of summer, 
it was to be traced only by the bogs and moss that 
announced the proximity of water. When the fire 
reached this barrier, it was compelled to pause, un- 
til a concentration of' its heat could overcome the 
noisture, like an army impatiently waiting the ope- 
rations of a battering train, to open its way to dead, 
and desolation. 

46 * 


546 


THE PIONEERS. 


That fatal moment seemed now to have arrived; 
for the hissing streams of the spring appeared to be 
nearly exhausted, and the moss of the rocks was 
already curling under the ‘intense heat that was 
thrown across the little spot of wet ground, while 
the fragments of bark, that yet clung to the dead 
trees, began to separate from their trunks, and fall 
to the ground in crumbling masses. The air seem- 
ed quivering with rays of heat, which might be seen 
playing along the parched stems of the trees. The 
excited imagination of Elizabeth, as she stood on 
the verge of the precipice, and gazed about her, 
viewing the approach of their powerful enemy, 
fancied every tree and herb near her on the point 
of ignition. There were moments when dark 
clouds of smoke would sweep along the little ter- 
race, and as the eye lost its power, the other 
senses contributed to give effect to the fearful hor- 
ror of the scene. At such moments, the roaring 
of the flames, the crackling of the furious element, 
with the tearing of falling branches, and, occasion- 
ally, the thundering echoes of some prostrated 
tree, united to alarm the victims. Of the three, 
however, the youth appeared much the most agi- 
tated. Elizabeth, having relinquished entirely the 
idea of escape, was fast obtaining that resigned 
composure, with which the most delicate of her sex 
are known to meet unavoidable evils ; while Mo- 
hegan, who was much nearer to the danger, main- 
tained his seat with the invincible resignation of an 
Indian warrior. Once or twice the eye of the aged 
chief, which was ordinarily fixed in the direction 
of the distant hills, turned towards the young pair, 
who seemed doomed to so early a death, with a 
slight indication of pity crossing his composed fea- 
tures, but it would immediately revert again to its 
former gaze, as if already looking into the womb 


l"HE PIONEERS. 


54? 


of luturity. Much of the time he was chanting a 
kind of low dirge,’ in the Delaware tongue, using 
the deep and remarkably guttural tones of his 
people. 

“ At such a moment, Mr. Edwards, all earthly 
distinctions end,” whispered Elizabeth ; u per- 
suade John to move nearer to us — let us die to- 
gether.” 

“ 1 cannot — he will not stir,” returned the youth, 
in the same horridly still tones. u He considers 
this as the happiest moment of his life. He is past 
seventy, and has been decaying rapidly for some 
time ; he received some injury in chasing that un- 
lucky deer, too, on the lake. Oh ! Miss Tem- 
ple, that was an unlucky chase indeed ! it has led, 
1 fear, to this awful scene.” 

The smile that beamed on the lovely features of 
Elizabeth was celestial, as she answered in a soft, 
soothing voice, u Why name such a trifle now — at 
this moment the heart is dead to all earthly emo- 
tions !” 

“ If any thing could reconcile a man, in the vi- 
gour and pride of manhood, to this death,” cried 
the youth with fervour, “ it would be to meet it 
in such company !” 

“ Talk not so, Edwards, talk not so,” interrupt- 
ed Miss Temple, M I am unworthy of it ; and it is 
unjust to yourself. We must die ; yes — yes — we 
must die — it is the will of God, and let us endea- 
vour to submit like his own children.” 

“ Die !” the youth rather shrieked than exclaim- 
ed, “ No — no — there must be hope yet — you must 
not, shall not die.” 

a In what way can we escape ?” asked Eliza- 
beth, pointing, with a look of heavenly composure, 
towards the tire. u Observe ! the flame is crossing 


548 


THE PIONEERS. 


the barrier of wet ground — it comes slowly, Ed 
wards, but surely. — Ah ! see ! the tree ! the tree 
is already lighted !” 

Her words were too true. The heat of the con- 
flagration had, at length, overcome the resistance 
of the spring, and the fire was slowdy stealing along 
the half-dried moss; while a dead pine kindled 
with the touch of a forked flame, that, for a mo- 
ment, wreathed around the stem of the tree, as it 
whirled, in one of its evolutions, under the influ- 
ence of the air. The effect w 7 as instantaneous and 
magical. The flames danced along the parched 
trunk of the pine, like lightning quivering on a 
chain, and immediately a column of living fire was 
raging on the terrace. It soon spread from tree to 
tree, and the scene was evidently drawing to a close. 
The log on which Mohegan was seated lighted at 
its farther end, and the Indian appeared to be sur- 
rounded by the fire. Still he was unmoved. As 
his body w r as unprotected, his sufferings must have 
been great, but his fortitude was superior to all 
His voice could yet be heard, raising its tones, 
even in the midst of these horrors. Elizabeth 
turned her head from the sight, and faced the val- 
ley. Furious eddies of wind were created by the 
heat, and just at the moment, the canopy of fiery 
smoke that overhung the valley, was cleared away, 
leaving a distinct view of the peaceful village be- 
neath them. 

“ My father ! — My father f ” shrieked Elizabeth. 
u Oh ! this — this surely might have been spared 
me — but I submit.” 

The distance was not too great for the figure of 
Judge Temple to be seen, standing in his own 
grounds, and apparently contemplating, in perfect 
unconsciousness of the danger of his child, the 


THE PIONEERS. 


549 


mountain in flames. This sight was still more 
painful than the approaching danger ; and Eliza- 
beth again faced the hill. 

“ My intemperate warmth has done this !” cried 
Edwards, in the accents of despair. “ If I had pos- 
sessed but a moiety of your heavenly resignation, 
Miss Temple, all might yet have been well.” 

“ Name it not — name it not,” she said. “ It is 
now of no avail. We must die, Edwards, we must 
die — let us do so as Christians. But — no — you 
may yet escape, perhaps. Your dress is not so fa- 
tal as mine. Fly ! leave me. An opening may 
yet be found for you, possibly — certainly it is worth 
the effort. Fly! leave me — but stay! You will 
see my father ; my poor, my bereaved father ! 
Say to him, then, Edwards, say to him, all that can 
appease his anguish. Tell him that I died happy 
and collected ; that I have gone to my beloved 
mother ; that the hours of this life are as nothing 
when balanced in the scales of eternity. Say how 
we shall meet again. And say,” she continued, 
dropping her voice, that had risen with her feel- 
ings, as if conscious of her worldly weaknesses, 
u how dear, how very dear, was my love for him ; 
that it was near, too near, to my love for God.” 

The youth listened to her touching accents, but 
moved not. In a moment he found utterance, and 
replied : 

“ And is it me that you bid to leave you ! me, 
to leave you on the edge of the grave ! Oh ! Miss 
Temple, how little have you known me,” he cried, 
dropping on his knees at her feet, and gathering 
her flowing robe in his arms, as if to shield her 
from the flames. “ I have been driven to the 
woods in despair ; but your society has tamed the 
lion within me. If I have wasted my time m de- 
gradation, ’twas you that charmed me to it. If I 


550 


THE PIONEERS. 


have forgotten my name and family, your form sup 
plied the place of memory. If I have forgotten my 
wrongs, ’twas you that taught me charity. No — 
no — dearest Elizabeth, I may die with you, but I 
can never leave you !” 

Elizabeth moved not, nor answered. It was 
plain that her thoughts had been of heaven. The 
recollection of her father, and her regrets at their 
separation, had been mellowed by a holy senti- 
ment, that lifted her above the level of earthly 
things, and she was fast losing the weakness of her 
sex, in the near view of eternity. But as the 
maiden, standing m her extremity, listened to these 
words, she became once more woman. The blood 
gathered slowly again in those cheeks, that had, 
in anticipation of the tyrant’s triumph, assumed the 
livid appearance of death, until they glowed with 
the loveliness of her beauty. She struggled with 
herself against these feelings, and smiled, as she 
thought she was shaking off the last lingering feel- 
ing of her nature, when the world, and all its se- 
ductions, rushed again to her heart, with the sounds 
of a human voice, crying in piercing tones — 

“ Gal ! where be ye, gal ! gladden the heart of 
an old man, if ye yet belong to ’arth !” 

“ List !” said Elizabeth, “ ’tis the Leather-stock- 

g ; he seeks me !” 

“ ’Tis Natty !” shouted Edwards, springing on 
his feet, “ and we may yet be saved !” 

A wide and circling flame glared on their eyes 
for a moment, even above the fire of the woods, 
and a loud report followed, that was succeeded by 
a comparative stillness. 

u ’Tis the canister ! ’tis the powder,” cried the 
same voice, evidently approaching them. u ’Tis 
the canister, and the precious child is lost !” 

At the next instant Natty rushed through the 


THE PIONEERS. 


551 


steams of the spring, and appeared on the terrace, 
without his deer-skin cap, his hair burnt to his head, 
his shirt of country check black and filled with 
holes, and his red features of a deeper colour than 
ever, by the heat he had encountered. 


CHAPTER XXX VIII. 


,l Even from the land of shadows, now 
My father’s awful ghost appears.” 

Gertrude of Wyoming. 


For an hour after Louisa Grant was left by Miss 
Temple, in the situation already mentioned, she 
continued in feverish anxiety, awaiting the return 
of her friend. But as the time passed by without 
the re-appearance of Elizabeth, the terrors of Lou- 
isa gradually increased, until her alarmed fancy 
had conjured every species of danger that apper- 
tained to the woods, excepting the one that really 
existed. The heavens had become obscuied, by 
degrees, and vast volumes of smoke were pouring 
over the valley ; but the thoughts of Louisa were 
still recurring to beasts, without dreaming of the 
real cause for apprehension. She was stationed in 
the edge of the low pines and chestnuts that suc- 
ceed the first or large growth of the forest, and di- 
rectly above the angle where the highway turned 
from the straight course to the village, and ascend- 
ed the mountain, laterally. Consequently she 
commanded a view not only of the valley, but of 
the road beneath her. The few travellers that 
passed, she observed, were engaged in earnest 


THE PIOJVEERS. 


553 


conversation, and frequently raised theii eyes to 
the hill, and at length she saw the people leaving 
the court-house, and gazing upward also. While 
under the influence of the alarm excited by such 
unusual movements, reluctant to go, and yet fear- 
ful to remain, Louisa was startled by the low, 
cracking, but cautious treads, of some one ap- 
proaching through the bushes. She was on the 
eve of flight, when Natty emerged from the cover, 
and stood at her side. The old man laughed as 
he shook her kindly by a hand that was passive 
with fear, and said — 

w I am glad to meet you here, child, for the 
back of the mountain is a-fire, and it would be 
dangerous to go up it now, till it has been burnt 
over once, and the dead wood is gone. There’s a 
foolish man, the comrade of that varmint, who has 
given me all this trouble, digging for ore on the 
east side. I told him that the kearless fellows, 
who thought to catch a practys’d hunter in the 
woods after dark, had thrown the lighted pine knots 
in the brush, and that ’twould kindle like tow, and 
warned him to Leave the hill. But he was set up- 
on his business, and nothing short of Providence 
could move him. If he isn’t burnt and buried in a 
grave of his own digging, he’s made of salamanders. 
Why, what ails the child ! you look as skeary as if 
you see’d more painters ! I wish there was some 
to be found, they’d count up faster than the bea- 
ver. But where’s the good child of a bad father r 
did she forget her promise to the old man ?” 

“ The hill ! the hill !” shrieked Louisa ; a she 
seeks you on the hill with the powder !” 

Natty recoiled for several feet, at this unexpect- 
ed intelligence, and exclaimed — 

“ The Lord of Heaven have mercy on her ! She’s 
on the Vision, and that’s a sheet of fire ag’in this. 

47 


554 


THE PIONEERS. 


Child, if ye love the dear one, and hope to find a 
friend when you need it most, to the village, and 
give the alarm. The men be us’d to fighting fire, 
and there may be a chance left. Fly ! I bid ye 
fly ! nor stop even for breath.” 

The Leather-stocking had no sooner uttered this 
injunction, than he disappeared in the bushes, and 
when last seen by Louisa, was rushing up the 
mountain with the activity of youth, and with a 
speed that none but those who were accustomed 
to the toil could attain. 

“ Have I found ye !” the old man exclaimed, 
when he burst out of the smoke ; “ God be prais- 
ed, that I’ve found ye ; but follow, — there is no time 
left for talking.” 

“ My dress !” said Elizabeth ; u it would be fa- 
tal to trust myself nearer to the flames in it.” 

u I bethought me of your flimsy things,” cried 
Natty, throwing loose the folds of a covering of 
buckskin that he carried on his arm, and wrap- 
ping her form in it, in such a manner as to en- 
velope her whole person ; u now follow, for it’s 
a matter of life and death to us all.” 

“ But John ! what will become of John ?” cried 
Edwards ; u can we leave the old warrior here to 
perish ?” 

The eyes of Natty followed the direction of Ed- 
wards’ finger, when he beheld the Indian, still seat- 
ed as before, with the very earth under his feet 
consuming with fire. Without delay the hunter 
approached the spot, and cried in Delaware — 

u Up and away, Chingachgook ! will ye stay here 
to burn, like a tortured Mingo, at the stake ? The 
Moravians have teached ye better, I hope ; the 
Lord preserve me if the powder hasn’t flashed 
itween his legs, and the skin of his back is r< ast- 
ing. Will ye come, I say ? will ye follow ?” 


THE PIONEERS. 


555 


“ Why should Mohegan go returned the In- 
dian, gloomily. “ He has seen the days of an ea- 
gle, and his eye grows dim. He looks on the val- 
ley ; he looks on the water ; he looks in the hunt- 
ing-grounds — but he sees no Delawares. Every 
one has a white skin. My fathers say, from the 
far-off land, come. My women, my young war- 
riors, my tribe, say, come. The Great Spirit says, 
come. No — let Mohegan die.” 

“ But you forget your friend,” cried Edwards. 

“ ’Tis useless to talk to an Indian with the death- 
fit on him, lad,” interrupted Natty, who seized the 
strips of the blanket, and with wonderful dexterity 
strapped the passive chieftain to his own back ; 
when he turned, and with a strength that seemed 
to bid defiance, not only to his years, but to his 
load, he led the way to the point whence he had 
issued. Even as they crossed the little terrace of 
rock, one of the dead trees, that had been totter- 
ing for several minutes, fell on the spot where they 
had stood, and filled the air with its cinders. 

Such an event quickened the steps of the party, 
who followed the Leather-stocking with the ur- 
gency required by the occasion. 

u Tread on the soft ground,” he cried, when 
they were in a gloom where sight availed them but 
little, u and keep in the white smoke ; keep the 
skin close on her, lad ; she’s a precious one, 1 tell 
you — sich another will be hard to be found.” 

Obedient to the hunter’s directions, they follow- 
ed his steps and advice implicitly, and although the 
narrow passage along the winding of the spring led 
amid burning logs and falling branches, yet they 
happily achieved it in safety. No one but a man 
long accustomed to the woods, could have traced 
his route through a smoke, in which respiration 
was difficult, and sight nearly useless ; but the 


556 


THE PIONEERS. 


perience of Natty conducted them to an opening 
through the rocks, where, with a ittle difficulty- 
they soon descended to another terrace, and emerg- 
ed at once into a tolerably clear atmosphere. 

The feelings of Edwards and Elizabeth, at reach- 
ing this spot, may be imagined, though not easily 
described. No one seemed to exult more than 
their guide, who turned, with Mohegan still lashed 
to his back, and laughing in his own manner* said — 
u I know’d ’twas the Frenchman’s powder, gal ; 
it went so altogether like ; your ooafSe grain will 
squib for a minute. The Iroquois had none of the 
best powder when I w r ent ag’in the Canada tribes, 
under Sir William. Did I ever tell you the story, 

lad, consarning the skrimmage with” 

“ For God’s sake, tell me nothing now, Natty, 
until we are entirely safe. 'Where shall we go 
next ?” 

u Why, on the platform of rock over the cave, 
to be sure ; you will be safe enough there, or we’ll 
go into it, if you be so minded.” 

The young man started, and appeared agitated 
with a strong emotion, but, looking around him with 
an anxious eye, said quickly — 

u Shall we be safe on the rock ? cannot the fire 
reach us there, too ?” 

u Can’t the boy see ?” said Natty, with the cool- 
ness of one who was accustomed to the kind of 
danger he had just encountered. “ Had ye staid 
in the place above ten minutes longer, you would 
both have been in ashes, but here you may stay 
for ever, and no fire can touch you, until they 
burn the rocks as well as the woods.” 

With this assurance, which was obviously true, 
they proceeded to the spot, and Natty deposited 
his load, placing the Indian on the ground with his 
back against a fragment of the »ocks. Elizabeth 


THE PIONEERS. 557 

sunk on the ground, and buried her face in hei 
hands, while her heart was swelling with a variety 
of conflicting emotions. 

“. Let me urge you to take a restorative, Miss 
Temple,” said Edwards respectfully ; “ your frame 
will sink else.” * 

“ Leave, leave me,” she said, raising her beam- 
ing eyes for a ipoment to his ; “ I feel too much 
for words ! I a/h grateful, Oliver, for this miracu- 
lous escape ; and, next to my God to you.” 

Edwards withdrew to the edge of the rock, and 
shouted — “ Benjamin ! w here are you, Benjamin ?” 

A hoarse Voice replied, as if from the bowels of 
the earth, u Hereaway, master ; stow’d in this here 
bit of a hole, which is all the same as hot as the 
cook’s coppers. I’m tired of my birth, d’ye see, 
and if-so-be that Leather-stocking has got much 
over-hauling to do before he sails after them said 
beavey, I’ll go into dock again, and ride out my 
quai^ntine till I can get prottick from the law, and 
so hold on upon the rest of my ’spaniolas.” 

“ Bring up a glass of water from the spring,” 
continued Edwards, “ and throw a little wine in it ; 
hasten, I entreat you.” 

a I knows but little of your small drink, master 
Oliver,” returned the steward, his voice issuing 
out of the cave into the open air, “and the Jamai- 
fcy held out no longer than to take a parting kiss 
with Billy Kirby, when he anchored me alongside 
the highway last night, where you run me down in 
the chase. But here’s sum ’mat of a red colour that 
may suit a weak stomach, mayhap. That master 
Kirby is no first-rate in a boat, but he’ll tack a cart 
among the stumps, all the same as a Lon’on pilot 
will back and fill through the colliers in the Pool.” 

As the steward ascended while talking, by the 
time he had ended his speech, he appeared on the 
47 * 


h58 


THE PIONF.F.RS. 


rock, with the desired restoratives, exhibiting the 
worn-out and bloated features of a man, who had 
run deep in a debauch, and that lately. 

Elizabeth took from the hand of Edwards the 
liquor which he offered, and then motioned to be 
left again to herself. 

The youth turned at her bidding, and observed 
Natty kindly assiduous around the person of Mo- 
hegan. When their eyes met, the hunter said sor- 
rowfully — 

“ His time has come, lad ; I see it in his eye ; — 
when an Indian fixes his eye, he means to go but 
to one place ; and what the wilful creaters put 
their minds on, they’re sure to do.” 

A quick tread diverted the reply of the youth, 
and in a few moments, to the amazement of the 
whole party, Mr. Grant was seen clinging to the 
side of the mountain, and striving to reach the 
place where they stood. Oliver sprang to his as- 
sistance, and by their united efforts the worthy di- 
vine was soon placed safely among them. 

“ How came you added to our number ?” cried 
Edwards. u Is the hill alive with people, at a time 
like this ?” 

The hasty, but pious thanksgivings of the cler- 
gyman were soon ejaculated ; and when he suc- 
ceeded in collecting his bewildered senses he re- 
plied — 

“ I heard that my child was seen coming to the 
mountain ; and when the fire broke over its sum- 
mit, my uneasiness drew me up the road, where 1 
found Louisa, in terror for Miss Temple. It was 
to seek her that I came into this dangerous place ; 
and I think but for God’s mercy, through the dogs 
of Natty, I should have perished in the flames my- 
self” 

“ Ay ! follow the hounds, and if there’s an open- 


THE PIONEERS. 


559 


mg they’ll scent it out,” said Natty • ct their noses 
be given them the same as man’s reason.” 

“ I did so, and they led me to this place ; but, 
praise be to God, that I see you all safe and well.” 

“ No, no,” returned the hunter; u safe we be, 
but as for well, John can’t be called in a good way, 
unless you’ll say that for a man that’s taking his 
last look at the ’arth.” 

“ He speaks the truth !” said the divine, with 
the holy awe with which he ever approached the 
dying ; — “ I have been by too many death-beds, 
not to see that the hand of the tyrant is laid on 
this old warrior. Oh ! how consoling it is, to know 
that he has not rejected the offered mercy, in the 
hour of his strength and of worldly temptations ! 
The offspring of a race of heathens, he has in 
truth been c as a brand plucked from the burning.’ ” 
“ No, no,” returned Natty, who alone stood 
with him by the side of the dying warrior, “ it’s no 
burning that ails him, though his Indian feelings 
made him scorn to move, unless it be the burning 
of man’s wicked thoughts for near fourscore years ; 
but it’s nater giving out in a chase that’s run too 
long. Down with ye, Hector ! down, I say ! — 
Flesh isn’t iron, that a man can live for ever, and 
see his kith and kin driven to a far country, and 
he left to mourn, with none to keep him company.” 

u John,” said the divine, tenderly, “ do you hear 
me ? do you wish the prayers appointed by the 
church at this trying moment ?” 

The Indian turned his ghastly face to the speak- 
er, and fastened his dark eyes on him, steadily, 
but vacantly. No sign of recognition was made ; 
and in a moment he moved his head again slowlj 7 
towards the vale, and began to sing, using his own 
language, in those low, guttural tones, that have 
been so often mentioned, bis notes lisihg with his 


560 


THE PIONEERS. 


theme, till they swelled to fulness, if not to har- 
mony : — 

“ I will come ! I will come ! to the land of the 
just I will come ! No Delaware fears his end ; no 
Mohican shrinks from death ; for the Great Spirit 
calls, and he goes. My father I have honoured ; I 
have cherished my mother ; to my tribe I’ve been 
faithful and true. The Maquas I have slain ! — I 
have slain the Maquas ! and the Great Spirit calls 
to his son. I will come ! I will come ! to the land 
of the just I will come !” 

“ What says he, Leather-stocking ?” inquired 
the priest, with tender interest ; “ sings he the Re- 
deemer’s praise ?” 

cc No, no, — ’tis his own praise that he speaks 
now,” said Natty, turning in a melancholy manner 
from the sight of his dying friend ; “ and a gooa 
right he has to say it all, for I know every word 
of it to be true.” 

“May Heaven avert such self-righteousness 
from his heart !” exclaimed the divine. “ Humility 
and penitence are the seals of Christianity ; and 
without feeling them deeply seated in the soul, all 
hope is delusive, and leads to vain expectations. 
Praise himself! when his whole soul and body 
should unite to praise his Maker ! J ohn ! you have 
enjoyed the blessings of a gospel ministry, and 
have been called from out a multitude of sinners 
and pagans, and, I trust, for a wise and gracious 
purpose. Do you now feel what it is to be justi- 
fied by our Saviour’s death, and reject all weak 
and idle dependence on good works, that spring 
from man’s pride and vainglory ?” 

The Indian did not regard his interrogator, but 
he raised his head again, and said, in a low, dis- 
tinct voice — 

“Who can say, that the Maquas know the back 


THE PIONEERS. 


561 


of Mohegan ! What enemy that trusted in hun 
did not see the morning? What Mingo that he 
chased ever sung the song of triumph ? Did Mo- 
hegan ever lie ? No ; for the truth lived in him, 
and none else could come out of him. In his youth, 
he was a warrior, and his moccasins left the stain 
of blood. In his age, he was wise ; and his words 
at the council fire did not blow away with the 
winds.” 

u Ah ! he has abandoned that vain relic of pa- 
ganism, his songs,” cried the good divine ; — u what 
says he now ? is he sensible of his lost state ?” 

u Lord ! man,” said Natty, “ he knows his ind 
is at hand as well as you or I, but, so far from 
thinking it a loss to him, he believes it to be a great 
gain. He is now old and stiff, and you’ve made 
the game so scearce and shy, that better shots than 
him find it hard to get a livelihood. Now he thinks 
he shall travel where it will always be good hunt- 
ing ; where no wicked or unjust Indians can go ; 
and where he shall meet all his tribe together ag’in. 
There’s not much loss in that, to a man whose 
hands be hardly fit for basket-making. Loss ! if 
there be any loss, ’twill be to me. I’m sure, after 
he’s gone, there will be but little left for me to do 
but to follow.” 

“ His example and end, which, I humbly trust, 
shall yet be made glorious,” returned Mr. Grant, 
“ should lead your mind to dwell on the things of 
another life. But I feel it to be my duty to smooth 
the way for the parting spirit. This is the mo- 
ment, John, when the reflection that you did not 
reject the mediation of the Redeemer, will bring 
balm to your soul. Trust not to any act of former 
days, but lay the burthen of your sins at his feet, 
and you have his own blessed assu**rce that he 
will not desert you.” 


562 


THE PIONEERS. 


“ Though all you say be true, and you have 
scripter gospels for it, too,” said Natty, “ you will 
make nothing of the Indian. He hasn’t seen a 
Moravian priest sin’ the war ; and it’s hard to keep 
them from going back to their native ways. I 
should think ’twould be as well to let the old man 
pass in peace. He’s happy now ; I know it by his 
eye ; and that’s more than I would say for the 
chief, sin’ the time the Delawares broke up from 
the head- waters of their river, and went west. 
Ah’s me ! ’tis a grievous long time that, and many 
dark days have we both seen together sin’ it.” 

u Hawk-eye !” said Mohegan, rousing with the 
last glimmering of life. “ Hawk-eye ! listen to the 
words of your brother.” 

u Yes, John,” said the hunter, in English, strong- 
ly affected by the appeal, and drawing to his side ; 
u we have been brothers ; and more so than it 
means in the Indian tongue. What would ye have 
with me, Chingachgook ?” 

“ Hawk-eye ! my fathers call me to the happy 
hunting-grounds. The path is clear, and the eyes 
of Mohegan grow young. I look — but I see no 
white-skins ; there are none to be seen but just 
and brave Indians. Farewell, Hawk-eye — you 
shall go with the Fire-eater and the Young Eagle^ 
to the white man’s heaven ; but I go after my fa- 
thers. Let the bow, and tomahawk, and pipe, and 
the wampum of Mohegan, be laid in his grave ; foi 
when he starts ’twill be in the night, like a warrior 
on a war-party, and he cannot stop to seek them.” 

“ What says he, Nathaniel ?” cried Mr. Grant, 
earnestly, and with obvious anxiety ; u does he 
recall the promises of the mediation ? and trust his 
salvation to the Rock of ages ?” 

Although the faith of the hunter was by no 
means clear, yet the fruits of early instruction had 


THE PIONEERS. 


563 


not entirely fallen in the wilderness. He be leved 
m one God, and one heaven ; and when the strong 
feeling excited by the leave-taking of his old com 
panion, which was exhibited by the powerful work- 
ing of every muscle in his weather-beaten face, 
suffered him to speak, he replied — 

u No — no — he trusts only to the Great Spirit 
of the savages, and to his own good deeds. He 
thinks, like all his people, that he is to be young 
ag’in, and to hunt, and be happy to the ind of etar- 
nity. It’s pretty much the same with all colours, 
parson. I could never bring myself to think, that 
I shall meet with these hounds, or my piece, in 
another world ; though the thoughts of leaving 
them for ever, sometimes brings hard feelings over 
me, and makes me cling to life with a greater crav- 
ing than beseems threescore-and-ten.” 

u The Lord in his mercy avert such a death 
from one who has been sealed with the sign of 
the cross !” cried the minister, in holy fervour. 
“ John”- 

He paused ; for the scene, and the elements, 
seemed to conspire to oppress the powers of hu- 
manity. During the period occupied by the events 
which we have related, the dark clouds in tk£ hori- 
zon had continued to increase in numbers and mag- 
nitude ; and the awful stillness that now pervaded 
the air, announced a crisis in the state of the at- 
mosphere. The flames, which yet continued to 
rage along the sides of the mountain, no longer 
whirled in the uncertain currents of their own ed 
dies, but blazed high and steadily towards the hea- 
vens. There was even a quietude in the ravages 
of the destructive element, as if it foresaw that 
a hand, greater than even its own desolating pow- 
er, was about to stay its progress. The piles of 
smoke which Jay above the valley began to rise. 


THE PIONEERS. 


504 


•and were dispelling rapidly ; and streaks of viv'a 
lightning were dancing through the masses of 
clouds that impended over the western hills. While 
Mr. Grant was speaking, a flash, which sent, its 
quivering light through the gloom, laying bare the 
whole opposite horizon, was followed by a loud 
crash of thunder, that rolled aw T ay among the hills, 
seeming to shake the foundations of the earth to 
their centre. Mohegan raised himself, as if in obe- 
dience to a signal for his departure, and stretched 
forth his wasted arm towards the west. His dark 
face lighted with a look of joy ; which, with all 
other expression, gradually disappeared ; the mus- 
cles stiffening as they retreated to a state of rest ; 
a slight convulsion played, for a single instant, 
about his lips; and his arm slowly dropped, rigid 
and motionless, by his side ; leaving the frame of 
the dead warrior reposing against the rock, with 
its glassy eyes open, and fixed on the distant hills, 
as if the deserted shell were tracing the flight of 
the spirit to its new abode. 

All this Mr. Grant witnessed in silent awe ; but 
when the last echoes of the thunder died away, he 
clasped his hands together, with pious energy, and 
repeated, in the full, rich tones of assured faith — 

“ O Lord ! how unsearchable are thy judgments : 
and thy ways past finding out ! ‘ I know that my 
Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the lat- 
ter day upon the earth : And though after my skin, 
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall 1 
see God : whom I shall see for myself, and mine 
eyes shall behold, and not another.’” 

As the divine closed this burst of devotion, he 
bowed his head meekly to his bosom, and looked 
all the dependence and humility that the inspired 
anguage expressed. 

When Mr Grant retired from the body, the 


THE PIONEERS. 


50 , 


huntei approached, and taking the rigid hand of 
his friend, looked him wistfully in the face for some 
time without speaking ; when he gave vent to his 
feelings by saying, in the mournful voice of one 
who felt deeply — 

“ Red skin or white, it’s all over now ! He’s to 
be judged by a righteous Judge, and by no laws 
that’s made to suit times, and new ways. Well s 
there’s only one more death, and the world will be 
left to me and the hounds. Ahs me ! a man must 
wait the time of God’s pleasure, but I begin to 
weary of my life. * There is scarcely a tree stand- 
ing that I know, and it’s hard to find a face that I 
was acquainted with in my younger days.” 

Large drops of rain began now to fall, and dif- 
fuse themselves over the dry rock, while the ap- 
proach of the thunder shower was rapid and cer- 
tain. The body of the Indian was hastily removed 
into the cave beneath, followed by the whining 
hounds, who missed, and moaned for, the look of 
intelligence that had always met their salutations 
to the chief. 

Edwards made some hasty and confused excuse 
for not taking Elizabeth into the same place, which 
was now completely closed in front with logs and 
bark, saying something that she hardly understood 
about its darkness, and the unpleasantness of be- 
ing with the dead body. Miss Temple, however, 
found a sufficient shelter against the torrent of lain 
that fell, under the projection of a rock which 
over-hung them. But long before the shower was 
over, the sounds of voices were heard below them 
crying aloud for Elizabeth, and men soon appear- 
ed, beating the dying embers of the bushes, as they 
w orked their way cautiously among the unextin- 
guished brands. 

At the first short cessation in the rain, Oliver 

•IS 


566 


THE PIONEERS. 


conducted the heiress to the road, where he leit 
her. Before parting, however, he found time to 
say, in a fervent manner, that his companion was 
now at no loss to interpret — 

“ The moment of concealment is over, Miss 
Temple. By this time to-morrow, I shall remove 
a veil that perhaps it has been weakness to keep 
around me and my affairs so long. But I have had 
romantic and foolish wishes and weaknesses ; and 
who has not, that is young and torn by conflicting 
passions ? God b’ess you ! I hear your father’s 
voice ; he is coming up the road,' and I would not, 
just now, subject myself to detention. Thank 
Heaven, you are safe again, and that alone removes 
the weight of a world from my spirit !” 

He waited for no answer, but sprang into the 
woods. Elizabeth, notwithstanding she heard the 
piercing cries of her father as he called upon her 
name, paused until he was concealed among the 
smoking trees, when she turned, and in a moment 
rushed into the arms of her half-distracted parent. 

A carriage had been provided, to remove her 
body, living or dead, as Heaven had directed her 
fate, into which Miss Temple hastily entered ; 
when the cry was passed along the hill, that the 
lost one was found, and the people returned to the 
village, wet and dirty, but elated with the though/ 
that the daughter of their landlord had escape/ 
from so horrid and untimely an end. 


CHAPTER XXXTX . 


“ Sclictar! unsheath then our chief’s scimetar , 
Tambourgi ! thy ’larum gives promise of war ; 

Ye mountains ! that see us descend to the shores 
Shall view us victors, or view us no more.” 

Byron 


The heavy showers that prevailed during the 
remainder of the day, completely stopped the pro- 
gress of the flames ; though glimmering fires were 
observed during the night, on different parts of the 
hill, wherever there was a collection of fuel to feed 
the element. The next day the woods, for many 
miles, were black and smoking, and were stript Oi 
every vestige of brush and dead wood ; but the 
pines and hemlocks still reared their heads proudly 
along the hills, and even the smaller trees of the 
forest retained a feeble appearance of life and ve- 
getation. 

The many tongues of rumour were busy in ex- 
aggerating the miraculous escape of Elizabeth, and 
a report was generally credited, that Mohegan had 
actually perished in the flames. This belief be- 
came confirmed, and was indeed rendered proba- 
ble, when the direful intelligence reached the vil- 
lage, that Jotham Riddel, the miner, was found in 
his hole, nearly dead with suffocation, and burnt 
to such a degree that no hopes were entertained 
of his life 


568 


THE PIOJVELBS. 


The public attention became much alive to the 
events of the last few days, and just at this crisis, 
the convicted counterfeiters took the hint from 
Natty, and, on the night succeeding the fire, found 
means to cut through their log prison also, and to 
escape unpunished. When this news began to cir- 
culate through the village, blended with the fate 
of Jotham, and the exaggerated and tortured re- 
ports of the events on the hill, the popular opinion 
was freely expressed, as to the propriety of seizing 
such of the fugitives as remained within reach. 
Men talked of the cave, as a secret receptacle of 
guilt ; and as the rumour of ores and metals found 
its way into the confused medley of conjectures, 
counterfeiting, and every thing else that w T as wick- 
ed and dangerous to the peace of society, suggest- 
ed themselves to the busy fancies of the populace. 

While the public mind was in this feverish state, 
it was hinted that the wood had been set on fire 
by Edwards and the Leather-stocking, and that, 
consequently, they alone were responsible for the 
damages. This opinion soon gained ground, be- 
ing most circulated by those who, by their own 
heedlessness, had caused the evil ; and there was 
one irresistible burst of the common sentiment, that 
an attempt should be made to punish the offenders. 
Richard was by no means deaf to this appeal, and 
by noon he set about in earnest, to see the laws 
executed. 

Several stout young men were selected, and 
taken apart with an appearance of secrecy, where 
they received some important charge from the 
Sheriff, immediately under the eyes, but far re- 
moved from the ears, of all in the village. Pos- 
sessed with a knowledge of their duty, these 
youths hurried into the hills, with a bustling man- 
ner, as if the fate of the world depended on theij 


THE PIONEERS. 


569 


diligence, ani , at the same time, with an air of 
mystery, as great as if they were engaged on se- 
cret matters of the state. 

At twelve precisely, a drum beat the u long 
roll” before the u Bold Dragoon,” and Richard ap- 
peared, accompanied by Captain Hollister, who 
was clad in his vestments as commander of the 
u Templeton Light-Infantry,” when the former de- 
manded of the latter the aid of the posse comita- 
tus, in enforcing the laws of the country. We have 
not room to record the speeches of the two gen- 
tlemen on this occasion, but they are preserved in 
the columns of the little blue news-paper, which 
is yet to be found on file, and are said to be highly 
creditable to the legal formula of one of the par- 
ties, and to the military precision of the other. 
Every thing had been previously arranged, and as 
the red-coated drummer continued to roll out his 
clattering notes, some five-and-twenty privates ap- 
peared in the ranks, and arranged themselves in 
order of battle. 

As this corps was composed of volunteers, and 
was commanded by a man who had passed the first 
five-and-thirty years of his life in camps and gar- * 
risons, it was the nonpareil of military science in 
that country, and was confidently pronounced, by 
the judicious part of the Templeton community, to 
be equal in skill and appearance to any troops in 
the known world ; in physical endowments they 
were, certainly, much superior ! To this asser- 
tion there were but three dissenting voices, and 
one dissenting opinion. The opinion befonged to 
Marmaduke, who, however, saw no necessity for 
its promulgation. Of the voices, one, and that a 
pretty loud one, came from the spouse of the com- 
mander himself, who frequently reproached her 
husband for condescending to lead such an irre^u 
48 * 


570 


THE PIONEERS. 


lar band of warriors, after he had filled the honour- 
able station of sergeant-major to a dashing corps of 
Virginian cavalry through much of the recent war. 

Another of these skeptical sentiments was inva- 
riably expressed by Mr. Pump, whenever the com- 
pany paraded, generally in some such terms as 
these, which were uttered with that sort of meek- 
ness, that a native of the island of our forefathers is 
apt to assume, when he condescends to praise the 
customs or characters of her truant progeny — 

“ It’s mayhap that they knows sum’mat about 
loading and firing, d’ye see ; but as for working 
ship ! why a corporal’s guard of the Boadishey’s 
marines would back and fill on their quarters in 
such a manner as to surround and captivate them 
all in half a glass.” As there was no one to deny 
this assertion, the marines of the Boadicea were 
held in a corresponding degree of estimation. 

The third unbeliever was Monsieur Le Quoi, 
who merely whispered to the sheriff, that the corps 
was one of the finest he had ever seen, second only 
to the Mousquetaires of Le Bon Louis ! How- 
ever, as Mrs. Hollister thought there was some- 
thing like actual service in the present appearances, 
and was, in consequence, too busily engaged with 
certain preparations of her own, to make her com- 
ments ; as Benjamin was absent, and Monsieur Le 
Quoi too happy to find fault with any thing, the 
corps escaped criticism and comparison altogether 
on this momentous day, when they certainly had 
greater need of self-confidence, than on any other 
previous occasion. Marmaduke was said to be 
again closeted with Mr. Van der School, and no 
interruption was offered to the movements of the 
troops. At two o’clock precisely the corps shoul- 
dered arms, beginning on the right wing, next to 
die veteran, and carrying the motion through to the 


THE PIONEERS. 


571 


left with great regularity. When each musket 
was quietly fixed in its proper situation, the order 
was given to wheel to the left, and march. As 
this was bringing raw troops, at once, to face theii 
enemy, it is not to be supposed that the manoeuvre 
was executed with their usual accuracy, but as the 
music struck up the inspiring air of Yankee-doodle, 
and Richard, accompanied by Mr. Doolittle, pre- 
ceded the troops boldly down the street, Captain 
Hollister led on, with his head elevated to forty 
five degrees, with a little, low cocked hat perched 
on its crown, carrying a tremendous dragoon sa- 
bre at a poise, and trailing at his heels a huge steel 
scabbard, that had war in its very clattering. There 
was a good deal of difficulty in getting all the pla- 
toons (there were six) to look the same way ; but, 
by the time they reached the defile of the bridge, 
the troops were in excellent order. In this man 
ner they marched up the hill to the summit of the 
mountain, no other alteration taking place in the 
disposition of the forces, excepting that a mutual 
complaint was made by the sheriff and the magis- 
trate, of a failure in wind, which gradually brought 
these gentlemen to the rear. It will be unneces- 
sary to detail the minute movements that suc- 
ceeded. We shall briefly say, that the scouts came 
in and reported, that, so far from retreating, as had 
been anticipated, the fugitives had evidently gained 
a knowledge of the attack, and were fortifying for 
a desperate resistance. This intelligence certainly 
made a material change, not only in the plans of 
the leaders, hut in the countenances of the soldiery 
also. The men looked at one another with seri- 
ous faces, and Hiram and Richard began to con- 
sult together, apart. 

At this juncture, they were joined by Billy Kir- 
by, who came along the highway, with his axe un- 


572 


THE PIONEERS. 


der his arm, as much in advance of his team ag 
Captain Hollister had been of his troops in the as- 
cent. The wood-chopper was amazed at the mili- 
tary array, but the sheriff eagerly availed himself 
of this powerful reinforcement, and commanded his 
assistance in putting the laws in force. Billy held 
Mr. Jones in too much deference to object ; and it 
was finally ai ranged, that he should be the bearer 
of a summons to the garrison to surrender, before 
they proceeded to extremities. The troops now 
divided, one party being led by the captain, over 
the Vision, and were brought rn on the left of the 
cave, while the remainder advanced upon its right, 
under the orders of the lieutenant. Mr. Jones and 
Dr. Todd, — for the surgeon was in attendance also, — 
appeared on the platform of rock, immediately over 
the heads of the garrison, though out of their sight. 
Hiram thought this approaching too near, and he 
therefore accompanied Kirby along the side of the 
hill, to within a safe distance of the fortifications, 
where he took shelter behind a tree. Most of the 
men discovered a wonderful accuracy of eye in 
bringing some object in range between them and 
their enemy, and the only two of the besiegers, 
who were left in plain sight of the besieged, were 
Captain Hollister on one side, and the wood-chop- 
per on the other. The veteran stood up boldly to 
the front, supporting his heavy sword, in one un- 
deviating position, with his eye fixed firmly on 
his enemy, while the huge form of Billy was placed 
in that kind of quiet repose, with either hand thrust 
into his bosom, bearing his axe under his right 
arm, which permitted him, like his own oxen, to 
rest standing. So far, not a word had been ex- 
changed between the belligerants. The besieged 
bad drawn together a pile of black logs and branches 
of trees, which they had formed into a chevaux-de- 


THE PIONEERS. 


573 


frise, making a little circular abbatis in front of the 
entrance to the cave. As the ground was steep 
and slippery in every direction around the place, 
and Benjamin appeared behind the works on one 
side, and Natty on the other, the arrangement was 
by no means contemptible, especially as the front 
was sufficiently guarded by the difficulty of the ap- 
proach. By this time, Kirby had received his or- 
ders, and he advanced coolly along the mountain, 
picking his way with the same indifference as if he 
were pursuing his ordinary business. When he 
was within a hundred feet of the works, the long 
and much dreaded rifle of the Leather-stocking 
was seen issuing from the parapet, and his voice 
cried aloud — 

“ Keep off ! Billy Kirby, keep off ! J wish ye no 
harm ; but if a man of ye all comes a step nigher, 
there’ll be blood spilt a-twixt us. God forgive the 
one that draws it first ; but so it must be.” 

“ Come, old chap,” said Billy, good naturedly, 
u don’t be crabbed, but hear what a man has got 
to say. I’ve no consarn in the business, only to 
see right ’twixt man and man ; and I don’t kear the 
valie of a beetle-ring which gets the better ; but 
there’s Squire Doolittle, out yonder behind the 
beech sapling, he has invited me to come in and 
ask you to give up to the law — that’s all.” 

“ I see the varmint ! I see his clothes !” cried 
the indignant Natty ; “ and if he’ll only show so 
much flesh as will bury a rifle bullet, thirty to the 
pound, I’ll make him feel me. Go away, Billy, I 
bid ye ; you know my aim, and I bear you no ma- 
lice.” 

“ You over calkilate your aim, Natty,” said the 
other, as he stepped behind a pine that stood near 
him, “ if you think to shoot a man through a tree 
with a three foot but. I can lay this tree right 


574 


THE PIONEERS. 


across you in ten minutes, by any man’s watch, 
and in less time, too ; so be civil — I want no more 
than what’s right.” 

There was a simple seriousness in the counte- 
nance of Natty, that showed he was much in ear- 
nest ; but it w as also evident, that he was reluctant 
to shed human blood. He answered the vaunt of 
the wood-chopper, by saying — 

“ I know you drop a tree where you will, Billy 
Kirby ; but if you show a hand, or an arm, in do- 
ing it, there’ll be bones to be set, and blood to 
staunch, I tell you. If it’s only to get into the 
cave that ye want, wait till a two hours’ sun, and 
you may enter it in welcome ; but come in now 
you shall not. There’s one dead body already, 
lying on the cold rocks, and there’s another in 
which the life can hardly be said to stay. If you 
will come in, there’ll be dead without as well as 
within.” 

The wood-chopper stept out fearlessly from his 
cover, and cried — 

“ That’s fair ; and what’s fair is right. He wants 
you to stop till it’s two hours to sun-down ; and 1 
see reason in the thing. A man can give up when 
he’s wrong, if you don’t crowd him too hard ; but 
you crowd a man, and he gets to be like a stubborn 
ox — the more you beat, the worse he kicks.” 

The sturdy notions of independence maintained 
by Billy, neither suited the emergency, nor the 
impatience of Mr. Jones, who was burning with a 
desire to examine the hidden mysteries of the cave. 
He therefore interrupted this amicable dialogue 
with his own voice. 

u 1 command you, Nathaniel Bumppo, by my 
authority, to surrender your person to the law,” he 
nried. “ And I command you, gentlemen, to aid 
me in performing my* duty. Benjamin Penguillan, 


THE PIONEERS. 


575 


I arrest you, and order you to follow me to the jail 
of the county, by virtue of this warrant.” 

“ I’d follow ye, Squire Dickens,” said Benja- 
min, removing the pipe from his mouth, ( for during 
the whole scene the ex-major domo had been very 
composedly smoking,) “ay! Pd sail in your 
wake, sir, to the end of the world, if-so-be that 
there was such a place, which there isn’t, seeing 
that it’s round. Now, mayhap, Master Hollister, 
having lived all your life on shore, you isn’t ac- 
quainted that the world, d’ye see” — 

“ Surrender !” interrupted the veteran, in a 
voice that startled his hearers, and which actually 
caused his own forces to recoil several paces ; 
u Surrender, Benjamin Pengullum, or expect no 
quarter.” 

“ Damn your quarter,” said Benjamin, rising 
from the log on which he was seated, and taking 
a squint along the barrel of the swivel, which had 
been brought on the hill, during the night, and now 
formed the means of defence on his side of the 
works. “ Look you, Master, or Captain, thof I 
questions if ye know the name of a rope, except 
the one that’s to hang ye, there’s no need of sing- 
ing out, just as if ye was hailing a deaf man on a 
top-gallant-yard. Mayhap you think* you’ve got 
my true name in your sheep-skin ; but what Bri- 
tish sailor finds it worth while to sail in these 
seas, without a sham on his stern, in case of need, 
d’ye see. If you call me Penguillan, you calls me 
by the name of the man on whose land, d’ye see, I 
hove into daylight ; and he was a gentleman ; and 
that’s more than my worst enemy will say of any 
of the family of Benjamin Stubbs.” 

“ Send the warrant round to me. and I’ll put in 
an alias,” cried Hiram, from behind his cover. 

“ Put in a jackass, and you’ll put in yourself. 


o76 


THE -PIONEERS. 


Mister Doo-but-little,” shouted Benjamin, who 
kept squinting along his little iron tube, with greal 
steadiness. 

u I give you but one moment to yeld in,” cried 
Richard. u Benjamin ! Benjamin ! this is not the 
gratitude I expected from you.” 

“ I tell you, Richard Jones,” said Natty, who 
dreaded the sheriff’s influence over his comrade ; 
“ though the canister the gal brought be lost, 
there’s powder enough in the cave to lift the rock 
you stand on. I’ll take off my roof, if you don’t 
hold your peace.” 

“ I think it beneath the dignity of my office to 
parley further with the prisoners,” the sheriff ob- 
served to his companion, while they both retired 
with a precipitancy that Captain Hollister mistook 
for the signal to advance. 

u Charge baggonet !” shouted the veteran , 
u march !” 

Although this signal was certainly expected, it 
took the assailed a little by surprise, and the vete- 
ran approached the works, crying, “ courage, my 
brave lads ! give them no quarter unless they sur- 
render,” and struck a furious blow upwards with 
his sabre, that would have divided the steward in 
moieties, by subjecting him to the process of de 
capitation, but for the fortunate interference of the 
muzzle of the swivel. As it was, the gun was dis- 
mounted at the critical moment that Benjamin was 
applying his pipe to the priming, and in conse- 
quence, some five or six dozen of rifle bullets were 
projected into the air, in nearly a perpendicular 
line. Philosophy teaches us that the atmosphere 
will not retain lead ; and two pounds of the metal, 
moulded into bullets of thirty to the pound, after 
describing an ellipsis in their journey, returned to 
the earth, rattling among the branches of the trees 


THE PIONEERS. 


577 


directly over the heads of the troops stationed in 
the rear of their captain. Much of the success of 
an attack, made by irregular soldiers, depends on 
which way they are first got in motion. In the 
present instance, it was retrograde, and in less than 
a minute after the loud bellowing report of the 
swivel among the rocks and caverns, the whole 
weight of the attack, from the left, rested on the 
prowess of the single arm of the veteran. Benja- 
min received a severe contusion from the recoil of 
his gun, which produced a short stupor, during 
which period the ex-steward was prostrate on the 
ground. Captain Hollister availed himself of this 
circumstance to scramble over the breast-work, and 
obtain a footing in the bastion — for such was the 
nature of the fortress, as connected with the cave. 
The moment the veteran found himself within the 
works of his enemy, he rushed to the edge of the 
fortification, and waving his sabre over his head, 
shouted — 

u Victory ! come on, my brave boys, the work’s 
our own !” 

All this was perfectly military, and was such 
an example as a gallant officer was in some mea- 
sure bound to exhibit to his men ; but the outcry 
was the unlucky cause of turning the tide of suc- 
cess. Natty, who had been keeping a vigilant eye 
on the wood-chopper, and the enemy immediately 
before him, wheeled at this alarm, and was appal- 
led at beholding his comrade on the ground, and 
the veteran standing on his own bulwark, giving 
forth the cry of victory! The muzzle of the long 
rifle was turned instantly towards the captain. 
There was a moment when the life of the old sol- 
dier was in great jeopardy ; but the object to shoot 
at was both too large and too near for the Leather- 
stocking, who, instead of pulling his trigger, ap« 


578 the pioneers. 

plied the gun to the rear of his enemy, and by a 
powerful shove sent him outside of the works with 
much greater rapidity than he had entered them. 
The spot on which Captain Hollister alighted was 
directly in front, where, as his feet touched the 
ground, so steep and slippery was the side of the 
mountain, it seemed to recede from under them. 
His motion was wonderfully swift, and so irregular, 
as utterly to confuse the faculties of the old sol- 
dier. During its continuance, he supposed himself 
to be mounted, and charging through the ranks of 
his enemy. At every tree he made a blow, of 
course, as at a foot-soldier ; and just as he was 
making the cut “ St. George” at a half-burnt sap- 
ling, he landed in the highway, and, to his utter 
amazement, at the feet of his own spouse. When 
Mrs. Hollister, who was toiling up the hill, follow- 
ed by at least twenty curious boys, leaning with 
one hand on the staff with which she ordinarily 
walked, and bearing in the other an empty bag, 
witnessed this exploit of her husband, indignation 
immediately got the better, not only of her religion, 
but of her philosophy. 

“ Why, sargeant ! is it flying ye are ?” she 
cried — u That I should live to see a husband of 
mine turn his back to the inimy ! and sich a one ! 
Here have I been telling the b’ys, as we come 
along, all about the saige of Yorrektown, and how ye 
was hurted ; and how ye’d be acting the same ag’in 
the day ; and 1 mate ye retracing jist as the first 
gun is fired. Och ; I may trow away the bag ! for 
if there’s plunder, ’twill not be the wife of sich 
as yeerself that will be privileged to be getting the 
same. They do say, too, there is a power of goold 
and silver in the place — the Lord forgive me for 
setting my heart on sich worreldly things ; but 


THE PIONEERS. 


579 


what falls in the battle, there’s Scripter for believ- 
ing it the just property of the victor.” 

u Retreating exclaimed the amazed veteran ; 
u where’s my horse ? he has been shot under 
me — I — ” 

“ Is the man mad !” interrupted his wife — “ divil 
the horse do ye own, sargeant, and yee’re nothing 
but a shabby captain of malaishy. Och ! if the 
ra’al captain was here, ’tis the other way ye’d be 
riding, dear, or you would not follow your lader !” 

While this worthy couple were thus discussing 
events, the battle began to rage more violently than 
ever, above them. When the Leather-stocking 
saw his enemy fairly under head-way, as Benjamin 
would express it, he gave his attention again to the 
right wing of the assailants. It would have been 
easy for Kirby, with his powerful frame, to have 
seized the moment to scale the bastion, and, with 
his great strength, to have sent both its defenders 
in pursuit of the veteran ; but hostility appeared 
to be the passion that the wood-chopper indulged 
the least in, at that moment, for, in a voice that 
was heard even by the retreating left wing, he 
shouted — 

“ Hurrah ! well done, captain ! keep it up ! how 
he handles his bush hook ! he makes nothing of a 
sapling !” and such other encouraging exclamations 
to the flying veteran, until, overcome by his mirth, 
the good-natured fellow seated himself on the 
ground, kicking the earth with delight, and giving 
vent to peal after peal of laughter. 

Natty stood all this time in a menacing attitude, 
with his rifle pointed over his breast-work, watch- 
ing with a quick and cautious eye the least move- 
ment of the assailants. The outcry unfortunately 
tempted the ungovernable curiosity of Hiram to 
take a peep from behind his cover at the state of the 


5 Q 0 


THE PIONEERS. 


battle. Though this evolution was performed with 
great caution, in protecting his front, he left, like 
many a better commander, his rear exposed to the 
attacks of his enemy. Mr. Doolittle belonged phy- 
sically to a class of his countrymen, to whom na- 
ture has denied, in their formation, the use of curv- 
ed lines. Every thing about him was either straight 
or angular. But his tailor was a woman who work- 
ed, like a regimental contractor, by a set of rules 
that gave the same configuration to the whole hu- 
man species. Consequently, when Mr. Doolittle 
leaned forward in the manner described, a loose 
drapery appeared behind the tree, at which the ri- 
fle of Natty was pointed with the quickness ol 
lightning. A less experienced man would have 
aimed at the flowing robe, which hung like a fes- 
toon half way to the earth ; but the Leather-stock- 
ing knew both the man and his female tailor bet- 
ter, and when the smart report of the rifle was 
heard, Kirby, who watched the whole manoeuvre 
in breathless expectation, saw T the bark fly from the 
beech, and the cloth, at some distance above the 
loose folds, wave at the same instant. No battery 
was ever unmasked with more promptitude than 
Hiram advanced from behind the tree, at this sum- 
mons. 

He made two or three steps, with great precision, 
to the front, and, placing one hand on the afflicted 
part, stretched forth the other, with a menacing aii , 
towards Natty, and cried aloud — 

“ Gawl darn ye ! this shan’t be settled so easy ; 
I’ll follow' it up from the c common pleas’ to the 
1 court of errors.’ ” 

Such a shocking imprecation, from the mouth of 
so orderly a man as Squire Doolittle, with the fear- 
less manner in which he exposed himself, together 
with, perhaps, the knowledge that Natty’s rifle was 


THE PIONEERS. 


581 


unloaded, encouraged the troops in the rear, who 
gave a loud shout, and fired a volley into the tree- 
tops, after the contents of the swivel. Animated 
by their own noise, the men now rushed on in ear- 
nest, and Billy Kirby, who thought the joke, good 
as it was, had gone far enough, was in the act of 
scaling the works, when Judge Temple appeared 
on the opposite side, exclaiming — 

“ Silence and peace ! why do I see murder and 
bloodshed attempted ! is not the law sufficient to 
protect itself, that armed bands must be gathered, 
as in rebellion and war, to see justice performed !” 

“ ’Tis the posse comitatus,” shouted the She- 
ri (f, from a distant rock, u who” — 

“ Say rather a posse of demons. I command 
the peace.” — 

u Hold ! shed not blood !” cried a voice from 
the top of the Vision — u Hold ! for the sake of 
Heaven, fire no more ! all shall be yielded ! you 
shall enter the cave !” 

Amazement produced the desired effect. Nattv , 
who had reloaded his piece, quietly seated him- 
self on the logs, and rested his head on his hand, 
while the “ Light Infantry” ceased their military 
movements, and waited the issue in mute sus- 
pense. 

In less than a minute Edwards came lushing 
down the hill, followed by Major Hartmann with a 
velocity that was surprising for his years. They 
reached the terrace in an instant, from which the 
youth led the way, by the hollow in the rock, to 
the mouth of the cave, into which they both en 
tered ; leaving all without silent and gazing aftei 
them with astonishment. 

49 * 


CHAPTER XL. 


“ I am dumb. 

Wore you the Doctor, and I know you not l” 

Shakspeare . 


During the five or six minutes that elapsed be- 
fore the youth and Major reappeared, Judge Tem- 
ple and the Sheriff, together with most of the vo- 
lunteers, ascended to the terrace, where the lattei 
began to express their conjectures of the result, 
and to recount their individual services in the con- 
flict. But the sight of the peace-makers, ascend- 
ing the ravine, shut every mouth. 

On a rude chair, covered with undressed deer- 
skins, they supported a human being, whom they 
seated carefully and respectfully in the midst of 
the assembly. His head was covered by long, 
smooth locks, of the colour of snow. His dress, 
which was studiously neat and clean, was com- 
posed of such fabrics as none but the wealthies! 
classes wear, but was threadbare and patched ; and 
on his feet were placed a pair of moccasins, orna- 
mented in the best manner of Indian ingenuity. 
The outlines of his face were grave and dignified, 
though his vacant eye, which opened and turned 
slowly to the faces of those around him in unmean 


THE PIONEERS. 


583 


ing looks, too surely announced that the ^period 
had arrived, when age brings the mental imbecility 
of childhood. 

Natty had followed the supporters of this unex- 
pected object to the top of the cave, and took his 
station at a little distance behind him, leaning on 
his rifle, in the midst of his pursuers, with a fear- 
lessness which showed that heavier interests than 
those which affected himself were to be decided. 
Major Hartmann placed himself beside the aged 
man, uncovered, with his whole soul beaming 
through those eyes which so commonly danced 
with frolic and humour. Edwards rested with one 
hand familiarly, but affectionately, on the chair* 
though his heart was swelling with emotions tha 
denied him utterance. 

All eyes were gazing intently, but each tongue 
continued mute. At length the decrepit stranger, 
turning his vacant looks from face to face, made a 
feeble attempt to rise, while a faint smile crossed 
his wasted face, like an habitual effort at courtesy, 
as he said, in a hollow, tremulous voice — 

u Be pleased to be seated, gentlemen. The 
council will open immediately. Each one who 
loves a good and virtuous king, will wish to see 
these colonies continue loyal. Be seated — I pray 
you, be seated, gentlemen. The troops shall halt 
for the night.” 

“ This is the wandering of insanity !” said Mar- 
maduke ; “ who will explain this scene ?” 

“ No, sir,” said Edwards, firmly, “ ’tis only the 
decay of nature ; who is answerable for its pitiful 
condition, remains to be shown.” 

“ Will the gentlemen dine with us, my son ?” 
said the old stranger, turning to a voice that he 
both knew and loved. “ Order a repast suitable 

VOL. II. 


584 


THE PIONEERS. 


for his Majesty’s officers. You know we have the 
best of game always at our command.” 

u Who is this man ?” asked Marmaduke, in a 
hurried voice, in which the dawnings of conjee- 
ture united with interest to put the question. 

u This man !” returned Edwards calmly, his 
voice, however, gradually rising as he proceeded ; 
u this man, sir, whom you behold hid in caverns, 
and deprived of every thing that can make life de- 
sirable, was once the companion and counsellor of 
those who ruled your country. This man, whom 
you see, helpless and feeble, was once a warrior, 
so brave and fearless, that even the intrepid natives 
gave him the name of the Fire-eater. This man, 
whom you now see destitute of even the ordinal y 
comfort of a cabin, in which to shelter his head, 
was once the owner of great riches; and, Judge 
Temple, he was the rightful proprietor of this very 
soil on which we stand. This man was the father 
of”— 

“ This, then,” cried Marmaduke, with powerful 
emotion, u this, then, is the lost Major Effingham !” 

“ Emphatically so,” said the youth, fixing a 
piercing eye on the other. 

“ And you ! and you !” continued the Judge ar- 
ticulating with difficulty. 

“ I am his grandson.” 

A minute passed in profound silence. All eyes 
were fixed on the speakers, and even the old Ger- 
man appeared to wait the issue in deep anxiety 
But the moment of agitation soon passed. Marma- 
duke raised his head from his bosom, where it had 
sunk, not in shame, but in devout mental thanks- 
givings, and, as large tears fell over his fine manly 
face, he grasped the hand of the youth warmly, 
and said — 


THE PIONEERS. 


585 


u Oliver, I ofrgive all thy harshness — all thy 
suspicions. I now see it all. 1 forgive thee every 
thing, but suffering this aged man to dwell in such 
a place, when not only my habitation, but m} r for- 
tune, were at his and thy command.” 

“ He’s true as ter steel !” shouted Major Hart- 
mann ; “ titn’t I tell’t you, lat, dat Marmatuke 
Temple vast a frient dat woult never fail in ter 
dime as of neet ?” 

“It is true, Judge Temple, that my opinions of 
your conduct have been staggered by what this 
worthy gentleman has told me. When I found it 
impossible to convey my grandfather back whence 
the enduring love of this old man brought him, 
without detection and exposure, I went to the Mo- 
hawk in quest of one of his former comrades, in 
whose justice I had dependence. He is m your 
friend, Judge Temple, but if what he says be true, 
both my father and myself may have judged you 
harshly.” 

“ You name your father!” said Marmaduke, ten- 
derly — u Was he, indeed, lost in the packet ?” 

“ He was. He had left me, after several years 
of fruitless application and comparative poverty, in 
Nova-Scotia, to obtain the compensation for his 
losses, which the British commissioners had at 
length awarded. After spending a year in Eng- 
land, he was returning to Halifax, on his way to a 
government, to which he had been appointed, in 
the West-Indies, intending to go to the place where 
my grandfather had sojourned during and since the 
war, and take him with us.” 

“ But, thou !” said Marmaduke, with powerful 
interest ; u I had thought that thou hadst perished 
with him.” 

A flush passed over the cheeks of the young 
man, who gazed about him at the wondering faces 


586 


THE PIONEERS 


of the volunteers, and continued silent. Manna- 
duke turned to the veteran captain, who just then 
rejoined his command, and said — 

u March thy soldiers back again, and dismiss 
them ; the zeal of the sheriff has much mistaken his 
duty. Dr. Todd, I will thank you to attend to the 
injury which Hiram Doolittle has received in this 
untoward affair. Richard, you will oblige me by 
sending up the carriage to the top of the hill. Ben- 
jamin, return to your duty in my family.” 

Unwelcome as these orders were to most of the 
auditors, the suspicion that they had somewhat ex- 
ceeded the wholesome restraints of the law, and 
the habitual respect with which all the commands 
of the Judge were received, induced a prompt com- 
pliance. 

Wl^en they were gone, and the rock was left to 
the parties most interested in an explanation, Mar- 
maduke, pointing to the aged Major Effingham, 
said to his grandson — 

“ Had we not better remove thy parent from 
this open place, until my carriage can arrive ?” 

u Pardon me, sir, the air does him good, and he 
has taken it whenever there was no dread of a dis- 
covery. I know not how to act, Judge Temple ; 
ought I, can I, suffer Major Effingham to become 
an inmate of your family ?” 

“ Thou shalt be thyself the judge,” said Marma- 
duke. “ Thy father was my early friend. He in- 
trusted his fortune to my care. When we sepa- 
rated, he had such confidence in me, that he wish- 
ed no security, no evidence of the trust, even had 
there been time or convenience for exacting it. 
This thou hast heard ?” 

a Most truly, sir,” said Edwards, or rather Ef- 
fingham, as we must now call him, with a bitter 
smile. 


THE PIONEERS. 


587 


“ We divided in politics. If the cause of this 
country was successful, the trust was sacred with 
me, for none knew of thy father’s interest. If the 
crown still held its sway, it would be easy to re- 
store the property of so loyal a subject as Colonel 
Effingham. — Is not this plain ?” 

“ The premises are good, sir,” continued the 
youth, with the same incredulous look as before. 

“ Listen — listen, poy,” said the German. “ Dere 
is not a hair as of ter rogue in ter het of ter 
Tchooge.” 

“We all know the issue of the struggle,” con- 
tinued Marmaduke, disregarding both. u Thy 
grandfather was left in Connecticut, regularly sup- 
plied by thy father with the means of such a sub- 
sistence as suited his wants. This I well knew, 
though I never had intercourse with him, even in 
our happiest days. Thy father retired wifh the 
troops to prosecute his claims on England. At all 
events, his losses must be great, for his real estates 
were sold, and I became the lawful purchaser. It 
was not unnatural to wish that he might have no 
bar to his just recovery ?” 

“There was none, but the difficulty of pro- 
viding for so many claimants.” 

“ But there would have been one, and an insu- 

E erable one, had I announced to the .world that 1 
eld these estates, multiplied, by the times and my 
industry, a hundred fold in value, only as his 
trustee. Thou knowest that I supplied him with 
considerable sums, immediately after the war.” 
“You did, until” — 

“My letters were returned unopened. Thy 
father had much of thy own spirit, Oliver; he was 
sonTetimes hasty and rash.” The J udge continued, 
in a self-condemning manner — “Perhaps my fault 
lies the other way ; I may possibly look too far 


588 


THE PIONEER!? 


ahead, and calculate too deeply. It certainly was 
a severe trial to allow the man, whom I most lov- 
ed, to think ill of me for seven years, in order that 
he might honestly apply for his just remunerations. 
But had he opened my last letters, thou wouldst 
have learnt the w hole tiuth. Those I sent him to 
England, by what my agent writes me, he did read. 
He died, Oliver, knowing all. He died my friend, 
and I thought thou hadst died with him.” 

“ Our poverty w r ould not permit us to pay for 
two passages,” said the youth, with the extraordi- 
nary emotion with which he ever alluded to the 
degraded state of his family ; “ 1 was left in the 
Province to wait for his return, and when the sad 
news of his loss reached me, I was nearly penny- 
less.” 

“ And what didst thou, boy ?” asked Marmaduke, 
in a filtering voice. 

u I took my passage here in search of my grand- 
father ; for I well knew that his resources were 
gone, w ith the half-pay of my father. On reaching his 
abode, I learnt that he had left it in secret ; though 
the reluctant hireling, who deserted him in his pover- 
ty, ow T ned to my urgent entreaties, that he believ- 
ed he had been carried away by an old man, who 
had formerly been his servant. I knew at once it 
was Natty, for my father often” 

“ Was Natty a servant to thy grandfather?” ex- 
claimed the Judge. 

“ Of that too were you ignorant ?” said the youth, 
in evident surprise. 

“ How should I know it ? I never met the Major, 
nor was the name of Bumppo ever mentioned to 
me. I knew him only as a man of the woods, and 
one who lived by hunting. Such men are too com- 
mon to excite surprise.” 

<c He was reared in the family of my grandfa 


THE PIONEERS. 


589 


ther ; served him for many years during their cam- 
paigns at the west, where he became attached to 
the woods, and he was left here as a kind of lo- 
cum tenens on the lands that old Mohegan (whose 
life my grandfather once saved) induced the Dela- 
wares to grant to him, when they admitted him 
as an honorary member of their tribe.” 

“This, then, is thy Indian blood?” 

“ I have no other,” said Edwards, smiling ; — 
“Major Effingham was adopted as the son of 
Mohegan, who at that time was the greatest man 
in his nation ; and my father, who visited those 
people when a boy, received the name of the Eagle 
from them, on account of the shape of his face, as 
I understand . They have extended his title to 
me. I have no other Indian blood or breeding ; 
though I have seen the hour, Judge Temple, when 
I could wish that such had been my lineage and 
education.” 

“ Proceed with thy tale,” said Marmaduke. 

“ I have but little more to say, sir. I followed 
to the lake where I had so often been told that 
Natty dwelt, and found him maintaining his old 
master in secret ; for even he could not bear to 
exhibit to the world, in his poverty and dotage, 
a man whom a whole people once looked up to 
with respect.” 

“And what did you?” 

“What did I ! I spent my last money in pur- 
chasing a rifle, clad myself in a coarse garb, and 
learned to be a hunter by the side of Leather- 
stocking. You know the rest, Judge Temple.” 

“Ant vere vast olt Fritz Hartmann !” said the 
German, reproachfully; “didst never hear a 
name as of olt Fritz Hartmann from ter mout of 
ter fader, lat?” 

“I may have been mistaken, gentlemen, re- 
50 


5J0 


THE PIONEERS. 


turned the youth ; “ but I had pride, and coula 
not submit to such an exposure as this day ever, 
has reluctantly brought to light. I had plans that 
might have been visionary ; but, should my parent 
survive till autumn, I purposed taking him with 
me to the city, where we have distant relatives, 
who must have learnt to forget the Tory by this 
time. He decays rapidly,” he continued, mourn- 
fully, “ and must soon lie by the side of old Mo- 
hegan.” 

The air being pure, and the day fine, the party 
continued conversing on the rock, until the wheels 
of Judge Temple’s carriage were heard clattering 
up the side of the mountain, during which time the 
conversation was maintained with deep interest, 
each moment clearing up some doubtful action, and 
lessening the antipathy of the youth to Marma- 
duke. * He no longer objected to the removal of 
his grandfather, who displayed a childish pleasure 
when he found himself seated once more in a car- 
riage. When placed in the ample hall of the Man- 
sion-house, the eyes of the aged veteran turned 
slowly to the objects in the apartment, and a look 
like the dawn of intellect would, for moments, flit 
across his features, when he invariably offered 
some useless courtesies to those near him, wan 
dering, painfully, in his subjects. The exercise 
and the change soon produced an exhaustion, that 
caused them to remove him to his bed, where he 
lay for hours, evidently sensible of the change in 
his comforts, and exhibiting that mortifying picture 
of human nature, which too plainly shows, that the 
propensities of the animal continue even after the 
nobler part of the creature appears to have va- 
nished. 

Until his parent was placed comfortably in bed 
with Natty se ted at his side, Effingham did not 


THE PIONEERS. 


591 


quit him. He then obeyed a summons to the li- 
brary of the Judge, where he found the latter, with 
Major Hartmann, waiting for him. 

“ Read this paper, Oliver,” said Marmaduke to 
him, as he entered, “ and thou wilt find that, so far 
from intending thy family wrong during life, it has 
been my care to provide that justice should be 
done at even a later day.” 

The youth took the paper, which his first glance 
told him was the will of the Judge. Hurried and 
agitated as he was, he discovered that the date 
corresponded with the time of the unusual depres- 
sion of Marmaduke. As he proceeded, his eyes 
began to moisten, and the hand which held the in- 
strument shook violently. 

The will commenced with the usual forms, spun 
out by the ingenuity of Mr. Van der School ; but 
after this subject was fairly exhausted, the pen of 
Marmaduke became plainly visible. In clear, dis- 
tinct, manly, and even eloquent language, he re- 
counted his obligations to Colonel Effingham, the 
nature of their connexion, and the circumstances 
in which they separated. He then proceeded to 
relate the motives for his long silence, mentioning, 
however, large sums that he had forwarded to his 
friend, which had been returned, with the letters 
unopened. After this, he spoke of his search for 
the grandfather, who had unaccountably disap- 
peared, and his fears that the direct heir of the 
trust was buried in the ocean with his father. 

After, in short, recounting in a clear narrative, 
the events which our readers must now be able to 
connect, he proceeded to make a fair and exact 
statement of the sums left in his care by Colonel 
Effingham. A devise of his whole estate to cer- 
tain responsible trustees followed ; to hold the 
fame for the benefit, in equal moieties, of his daugh- 


592 


THE PIONEEKS. 


ter, on one part, and of Oliver Effingham, formerly * 
a major in the army of Great Britain, and of his 
son Edward Effingham, and of his son Edward 
Oliver Effingham, or to the survivor of them, and 
the descendants of such survivor, for ever, on the 
other part. The trust was to endure until 1810, 
when, if no person appeared, or could be found, 
after sufficient notice, to claim the moiety so de- 
vised, then a certain sum, calculating the principal 
and interest of his debt to Colonel Effingham, was 
to be paid to the heirs at law of the Effingham fa- 
mily, and the bulk of his estate was to be conveyed 
• in fee to his daughter, or her heirs. 

The tears fell from the eyes of the young man, 
as he read this undeniable testimony of the good 
faith of Marmaduke, and his bewildered gaze was 
still fastened on the paper, when a sweet voice, 
that thrilled on every nerve, spoke, near him, 
saying, 

u Do you yet doubt us, Oliver ?” 

“ I have never doubted you /” cried the youth, 
recovering his recollection and his voice, as he 
sprung to seize the hand of Elizabeth ; M no, not 
one moment has my faith in you wavered.” 

u And my father” — 

a God bless him !” 

M I thank thee, my son,” said the Judge, ex- 
changing a warm pressure of the hand with the 
youth ; “ but we have both erred ; thou hast been 
too hasty, and I have been too slow. . One half of 
my estates shall be thine as soon as they can be 
conveyed to thee ; and if what my suspicions tell 
me be true, I suppose the other must follow speed- 
ily.” He took the hand which he held, and united 
it with that of his daughter, and motioned towards 
the door to the Major. 

“ I tel* you vat, gal !” said the old German, good 


THE PIONEERS. 


593 


iiumouredly ; u if I vast, ast I vast ven I servit 
mit his grantfader on ter lakes, ter lazy tog shouln’t 
vin ter prize as for nottin.” 

u Come, come, old Fritz,” cried the Judge ; “you 
are seventy, not seventeen ; Richard waits for you 
with a bowl of egg-nog, in the hall.” 

u Richart ! ter duyvel !” exclaimed the other 
hastening out of the room ; “ he makes ter nog ast 
for ter horse. I vilt show ter sheriff mit my own 
hants ! Ter duyvel ! 1 pelieve he sweetens mit ter 
yankee melasses !” 

Marmaduke smiled and nodded affectionately at 
the young couple, and closed the door after them. 
If any of our readers expect that we are going to 
open it again, for their gratification, they will soon 
find themselves in a mistake. 

The tete-a-tete continued for a very unreasona- 
ble time ; how long we shall not say ; but it was 
ended by six o’clock in the evening, for at that 
hour Monsieur Le Quoi made his appearance, 
agreeably to the appointment of the preceding day 
and claimed the ear of Miss Temple. He was ad- 
mitted ; when he made an offer of his hand, with 
much suavity, together with his u amis beeg and 
leet’, his pere, his mere, and his sucre-boosh.” Eli- 
zabeth might, possibly, have previously entered 
into some embarrassing and binding engagements 
with Oliver, for she declined the tender of all, in 
terms as polite, though perhaps a little more de- 
cided, than those in which they were made. 

The Frenchman soon joined the German and 
the Sheriff in the hall, who compelled him to take 
a seat with them at the table, where, by the aid of 
punch, wine, and egg-nog, they soon extracted from 
the complaisant Mr. Le Quoi the nature of his 
visit. It was evident that he had made the offer, 
as a duty which a well-bred man owed to a lady 
50 * 


594 


THE PIONEERS. 


in such a retired place, before he left the country , 
and that his feelings were but very little, if at all, 
interested in the matter. After a few potations, 
the waggish pair persuaded the exhilarated French- 
man that there was an inexcusable partiality in of- 
fering to one lady, and not extending a similar cour- 
tesy to another. Consequently, about nine, Mon- 
sieur Le Quoi sallied forth to the Rectory, on a 
similar mission to Miss Grant, which proved as suc- 
cessful as his first effort in love. 

When he returned to the Mansion-house, at ten, 
Richard and the Major were still seated at the ta- 
ble. They attempted to persuade the Gaul that 
he should next try Remarkable Pettibone. But, 
though he was stimulated by mental excitement 
and wine, two hours of abstruse logic were thrown 
away on this subject ; for he declined their advice, 
with a pertinacity truly astonishing in so polite a 
man. 

When Benjamin lighted Monsieur Le Quoi from 
the door, he said, at parting — 

“ If-so-be, Mounsheer, you’d run alongside Mis- 
tress Pretty-bones, as the Squire Dickens was bid- 
ding ye, ’tis my notion you’d have been grappled ; 
jn which case, d’ye see, you mought have been 
troubled in swinging clear again in a handsome 
manner; for thof Miss ’Lizzy and the parson’s 
young’un be tidy little vessels, that shoot by a body 
on a wind, Mistress Remarkable is sum’mat of a 
galliot fashion ; when you once takes ’em in tow, 
they doesn’t like to be cast off again.” 


CHAPTER XLI. 


* Yea, sweep ye on ! — We will not leave, 

For them who triumph, those who grieve. 

With that armada gay 
Be laughter loud, and jocund shout — 

— But with that skiff 
Abides the minstrel tale.” 

Lord of the Isles 

The events of our tale carry us through the 
summer ; and, after making nearly the circle of the 
year, we must conclude our labours in the delight- 
ful month of October. Many important incidents 
had, however, occurred in the intervening period ; 
a few of which it may be necessary to recount. 

The two principal were, the marriage of Oliver 
and Elizabeth, and the death of Major Effingham. 
They both took place earl) in September ; and 
the former preceded the latter only by a few days. 
The old man passed away like the last glimmering 
of a taper ; and though his dehth cast a melancholy 
over the family, grief could not follow such an end. 

One of the chief concerns of Marmaduke was to 
reconcile the even conduct of a magistrate with 
the course that his feelings dictated to the crimi- 
nals. The day succeeding the discovery at the 
cave, however, Natty and Benjamin re-entered the 
jail peaceably, where they continued, well fed and 
comfortable, until the return of an express to Alba- 
ny, who brought the Governor’s pardon to the 


596 


THE PIONEEES. 


Leather-stocking. In the mean time, proper mean, 
were employed to satisfy Hiram for the assaults on 
his person ; and on the same day, the two comrades 
issued together into society again, with their cha- 
racters not at all affected by their imprisonment. 

Mr. Doolittle began to discover, that neither his 
architecture, nor his law, was quite suitable to the 
growing wealth and intelligence of the settlement ; 
and, after exacting the last cent that was attainable 
in his compromises, to use the language of the coun- 
try, he u pulled up stakes,” and proceeded further 
west, scattering his professional science and legal 
learning through the land ; vertiges of both of 
which are to be discovered there even to the pre 
sent hour. 

Poor Jotham, whose life paid the forfeiture of 
his folly, acknowledged before he died, that his 
reasons for believing in a mine, were extracted 
from the lips of a sybil, who, by looking in a magic 
glass, was enabled to discover the hidden treasures 
of the earth. Such superstition was frequent in 
the new settlements ; and after the first surprise 
was over, fhe better part of the community forgot 
the subject. But, at the same time that it removed 
from the breast of Richard a lingering suspicion of 
the acts of the three hunters, it conveyed a morti- 
fying lesson to him, which brought many quiet 
hours, in future, to his cousin Marmaduke. It mav 
be remembered, that the Sheriff confidently pro- 
nounced this to be no ‘ visionary’ scheme, and that 
word was enough to shut his lips, at any timf 
within the next ten years. 

Monsieur Le Quoi, who has been introduced tc 
our readers, because no picture of that country 
would be faithful without such a Gaul, found the. 
island of Martinique, and his “ sucre-boosh,” in 
possession of the English ; but Marmaduke and 


THE PIONEERS. 


597 


his family were much gratified in soon hearing 
that he had returned to his bureau, in Paris ; 
where he afterwards issued yearly bulletins of his 
happiness, and of his gratitude to his friends in 
America. 

With this brief explanation, we must return to 
our narrative. — Let the American reader imagine 
one of our mildest October mornings, when the sun 
seems a ball of silvery fire, and jhe elasticity of 
the air is felt while it is inhaled ; imparting vigour 
and life to the whole system; — the weather, nei- 
ther too warm, nor too cold, but of that happy tem- 
perature which stirs the blood, without bringing 
the lassitude of spring. 

It was on such a morning, about the middle of 
the month, that Oliver entered the hall, where 
Elizabeth was issuing her usual orders for the day, 
and requested her to join him in a short excursion 
to the lake side. The tender melancholy in the 
manner of her husband caught the attention of 
Elizabeth, who instantly abandoned her concerns, 
threw a light shawl across her shoulders, and con- 
cealing her raven hair under her gipsy, she took 
bis arm, and submitted herself, without a question, 
to his guidance. They crossed the bridge, and 
had turned from the highway, along the margin of 
the lake, before a word was exchanged. Eliza- 
beth well knew, by the direction they took, the 
object of their walk, and respected the feelings of 
her companion too much to indulge in untimely 
conversation. But when they gained the open 
fields, and her eye roamed over the placid lake, 
covered with wild fowl, already journeying from 
the great northern waters, to seek a warmer sun. 
but lingering to play in the limpid sheet of the Ot- 
sego, and to the sides of the mountain, which were 


598 


THE PIONEERS. 


gay with the thousand dies of autumn, as if to 
grace their bridal, the swelling heart of the young 
wife burst out in speech. 

“ This is not a time for silence, Olivei !” she 
said, clinging more fondly to his arm ; “ every thing 
in nature seems to speak the praises of the Crea- 
tor ; why should we, who have so much to be 
grateful for, be silent ?” 

“ Speak on said her husband, smiling ; u I love 
the sounds ofyour voice. You must anticipate 
our errand hither ; I have told you my plans ; how 
do you like them ?” 

“I must first see them,” returned his wife. 
u But I have had my plans too ; it is time I should 
begin to divulge them.” 

u You! It is something for the comfort of my 
old friend Natty, I know.” 

u Certainly of Natty ; but we have other friends 
besides the Leather-stocking to serve. Do you 
forget Louisa, and her father ?” 

“ No, surely ; have I not given one of the best 
farms in the county to the good divine. As for 
Louisa, I should wish you to keep her always near 
us.” 

“You do,” said Elizabeth, slightly compressing 
her lips ; “ but poor Louise may have other views 
for herself; she may wish to follow my example, 
and marry.” 

“ I don’t think it,” said Effingham, musing a mo- 
ment ; u I really don’t know any one hereabouts 
good enough for her.” 

“ Perhaps not here ; but there are other places 
besides Templeton, and other churches besides 
4 New St. Paul’s.’ ” 

u Churches, Elizabeth ! you would not wish to 
lose Mr. Grant, surely ! Though simple, he is an 


THE PIONEERS. 


599 


excellent man. I shall never find another who has 
half the veneration for my orthodoxy. You would 
humble me from a saint to a very common sinner.” 

“ It must be done, sir,” returned the lady, with 
a half-concealed smile, “ though it degrades you 
from an angel to a man.” 

“ But you forget the farm.” 

* c He can lease it, as others do. Besides, would 
you have a clergyman toil in the fields ?” 

“ Where can he go ? you forget Louisa.” 

u No, I do not forget Louisa,” said Elizabeth, 
again compressing her beautiful lips. “ You know, 
Effingham, that my father has told you that I ruled 
him, and that I should rule you. I am now about 
to exert my power.” 

“ A.ny thing, any thing, dear Elizabeth, but not at 
the expense of us all ; not at the expense of youi 
friend.” 

“ How do you know, sir, that it will be so much 
at the expense of my friend ?” said the lady, fixing 
her eyes with a searching look on his countenance, 
where they met only the unsuspecting expression 
of manly regret. 

“ How do I know it ? why, it is natural that 
she should regret us.” 

“ It is our uuty to struggle with our natural feel- 
ings,” returned the lady ; u and there is but little 
cause to fear that such a spirit as Louisa’s will not 
effect it.” 

“ But what is your plan ?” 

“ Listen, and you shall know. My father has 
procured a call for Mr. Grant, to one of the towns 
on the Hudson, where he can live more at his ease 
than in journeying through these woods ; where he 
c&n spend the evening of his life in comfort and 
q.jiet ; and where his daughter may meet with such 


coo 


THE PIONEERS. 


society, and form such a connexion, as may be pro 
per for one of her years and character.” 

“ Why, Bess ! you amaze me ! I did not think 
you had been such a manager !” 

“ Oh ! I manage more deeply than you imagine, 
sir,” said the wife, archly smiling again ; “ but it is 
my will, and it is your duty to submit, — for a time 
at least.” 

Effingham laughed ; but as they approached the 
end of their walk, the subject was changed by com- 
mon consent. 

The place at which they arrived was the little 
spot of level ground, where the cabin of the Leather- 
stocking had so long stood. Elizabeth found it en- 
tirely cleared of rubbish, and beautifully laid down 
in turf, by the removal of sods, which, in-common 
with the surrounding country, had grown gay, un- 
der the influence of profuse showers, as if a second 
spring had passed over the land. This little place 
was surrounded by a circle of mason work, and they 
entered by a small gate, near which, to the surprise 
of both, the rifle of Natty was leaning against the 
wall. Hector and the slut reposed on the grass by 
its side, as if conscious that, however altered, they 
were lying on ground, and were surrounded by ob- 
jects, with which they were familiar. The hunter 
himself was stretched on the earth, before a head- 
stone of white marble, pushing aside with his fin- 
gers the long grass that had already sprung up from 
the luxuriant soil around its base, apparently to lay 
bare the inscription that was there engraven. By 
the side of this stone, which was a simple slab at 
the head of a grave, stood a rich monument, deco- 
rated with an urn, and ornamented tastefully with 
the chisel. 

Oliver and Elizabeth approached the graves, with 


THE iUOJMEERS. 


60*1 

a light tread, unheard by the old hunter, whose sun 
burnt face was working with his feelings, and whose 
eyes twinkled as if something impeded their vision. 
After some little time, Natty raised himself slowly 
from the ground, and said aloud — 

“ Well, well — I’m bold to say it’s all right ! 
There’s something that I suppose is reading ; but 1 
can’t make any thing of it ; though the pipe and 
the tomahawk, and the moccasins, be pretty well — 
pretty well, for a man that, I dares to say, nevei 
seed ’ither of the things. Ah’s me ! there they 
lie, side by side, happy enough ! Who will there 
be to put me in the ’arth, when my time comes ?” 

u When that unfortunate hour arrives, Natty, 
friends shall not be wanting to perform the last of- 
fices for you,” said Oliver, a little touched at the 
hunter’s soliloquy. 

The old man turned, without manifesting any sur- 
prise, for he had got the Indian habits in this par- 
ticular, and running his hand under the bottom of 
his nose, seemed to wipe away his sorrow with the 
action. 

u You’ve come out to see the graves, children, 
have ye ?” he said ; ct well, well, they’re whole 
some sights to young as well as old.” 

“ I hope they are fitted to your liking,” said Ef- 
fingham ; “ no one has a better right than yourself 
to be consulted in the matter.” 

M Why, seeing that I an’t used to fine graves,” 
eturned the old man, “ it is but little matter con- 
0 earning my taste. Ye laid the Major’s head to the 
west, and Mohegan’s to the east, did ye, lad ?” 

“ At your request it was done.” 

“ It’s so best,” said the hunter ; u they thought 
they had to journey different ways, children ; though 
there is One greater than all, who’ll bring the just 
51 


t;o2 


THE PIONEERS. 


together ag’in at his own time, and who’ll whiten 
the skin of a black-moor, and place him on a loot 
ing with princes.” 

“ There is but little reason to doubt that,” said 
Elizabeth, whose decided tones were changed to a 
soft, melancholy voice ; “ I trust we shall all meet 
again, and be happy together.” 

u Shall we, child ? shall we ?” exclaimed the 
hunter, with unusual fervour ; “ there’s comfort in 
that thought too. But before I go, I should like to 
know what ’tis you tell these people, that be flock- 
ing into the country like pigeons in the spring, of 
the old Delaware, and of the bravest white man 
that ever trod the hills.” 

Effingham and Elizabeth were surprised at the 
manner of the Leather-stocking, which was unu- 
sually impressive and solemn ; but attributing it to 
the scene, the young man turned to the monument, 
and read aloud — 

u Sacred to the memory of Oliver Effingham, 
Esquire, formerly a Major in his B. Majesty’s 60th 
Foot ; a soldier of tried valour; a subject of chival- 
ric loyalty ; and a man of honesty. To these vir- 
tues, he added the graces of a Christian. The 
morning of his life was spent in honour, wealth, 
and power ; but its evening was obscuud by po- 
verty, neglect, and disease, which were alleviated 
only by the tender care of his old, faithful, and up- 
right friend and attendant, Nathaniel Bumppo. 
His descendants rear this stone to the virtues of 
the master, and to the enduring gratitude of the 
servant.” 

The Leather-stocking stared at the 9v)und of his 
own name, and a smile of joy illumined his wrinkled 
features, as he said — 

u And did ye say it, lad ? have you then got the 
old man’s name cut in the stone, by the side of his 


THE PIONEERS 


()03 

master’s ' God bless ye, children ! ’twas a kind 
thought, and kindness goes to the heart as life 
shortens.” 

Elizabeth turned her back to the speakers, but 
the pure cambric, that contrasted^ her dark eyes, 
attested the feelings of the youthful bride. Effing- 
ham made a fruitless effort to speak before he suc- 
ceeded in saying — 

44 It is there cut in plain marble ; but it should 
have been written in letters of gold !” 

44 Show me the name, boy,” said Natty, with 
simple eagerness ; 14 let me see my own name 
placed in such honour. ’Tis a gin’rous gift to a 
man, who leaves none of his name and family be- 
hind him in a country, where he has tarried so 
long.” 

Effingham guided his finger to the spot, and 
Natty followed the windings of the letters to the 
end, with deep interest, when he raised himself 
from the tomb, and said — 

44 1 suppose it’s all right, and it’s kindly thought, 
and kindly done ! But what have ye put over the 
Red-skin 

44 You shall hear” — 

44 This stone is raised to the memory of an In- 
dian Chief, of the Delaware tribe, who was known 
by the several names of John Mohegan ; Mohi- 
can” — 

44 Mo-hee-can, lad, they call theirselves ! ’he- 
can.” 

44 Mohican ; and Chingagook” — 

44 ’Gach, boy ; — ’gach-gook ; Chingachgook : 
which, intarpreted, means Big-sarpent. Theliame 
should be set down right, for an Indian’s name has 
always some meaning in it.” 

44 I will see it altered,” said Edwards. w4 He 
was the last of his people who continued to inho- 


604 


THE PIONEERS. 


bit this country ; and it may be said of him, em- 
phatically, that his faults were those of an Indian, 
and his virtues those of a man.” 

u You never said truer word, Mr. Oliver; ah’s 
me ! if you had lqiow’d him as I did, in his prime, 
in that very battle, where the old gentleman, who 
sleeps by his side, sav’d his life, when them thieves, 
the Iriquois, had him at the stake, you’d have said 
all that, and more too. I cut the thongs with this 
very hand, and gave him my own tomahawk and 
knife, seeing that the rifle was always my fav’rite 
weapon. He did lay about him like a man ! I met 
him as I was coming home from the trail, with 
eleven Mingo scalps on his pole. You needn’t 
shudder, Madam Effingham, for they was all from 
shav’d heads and warriors. When I look about 
me, at these hills, where I used-to-could count 
sometimes twenty smokes, curling over the tree- 
tops, from the Delaware camps, it raises mournful 
thoughts, to think, that not a Red-skin is left of 
them all ; unless it may be a drunken vagabond 
from the Oneidas, or them Yankee Indians, who, 
they say, be moving up from the sea-shore and 
who belong to none of God’s creaters, to my seem- 
ing ; being, as it were, neither fish nor flesh ; nei- 
ther white man, nor savage. Well ! well ! the 
time has come at last, and I must go” — 

“ Go !” echoed Edwards, “ whither do you 
go ?” 

The Leather-stocking, who had imbibed, uncon- 
sciously, many of the Indian qualities, though he 
always thought of himself as of a civilized being, 
compared with even the Delawares, averted his 
(ace to conceal the workings of his muscles, as he 
stooped to lift a large pack fiom behind the tomb, 
which he placed deliberately on his shoulders. 

“ Go !” exclaimed Elizabeth, approaching him, 


THE PIONKURS. 


005 


with a hurried step ; u you should not venture so 
jar in the woods alone, at your time of life, Natty , 
indeed, it is imprudent. He is bent, Effingham, on 
some distant hunting.” 

“ What Mrs. Effingham tells you is true, Leather- 
stocking,” said Edwards ; u there can be no neces- 
sity for your submitting to such hardships now ! So 
throw aside your pack, and confine your hunt to the 
mountains near us, if you will go.” 

u Hardship ! ’tis a pleasure, children, and the 
greatest that is left me on this side the grave.” 

“ No, no ; you shall not go to such a distance,” 
cried Elizabeth, smiling, and laying her white hand 
on his deer-skin pack. “ 1 am right ! 1 feel his 
camp-kettle and a canister of powder ! he must not 
be suffered to wander so far from us, Oliver ; re- 
member how suddenly Mohegan dropp’d away.” 

u 1 know’d the parting would come hard, chil- 
dren ; I know’d it would !” said Natty, “ and so I 
got aside to look at the graves by myself, and 
thought if I left ye the keep-sake which the Major 
gave me, when we first parted in the woods, ye 
wouldn’t take it unkind, but would know, that, let 
the old man’s body go where it might, his feelings 
staid behind him.” 

“ This means something more than common !” 
exclaimed the youth ; “ where is it, Natty, that you 
purpose going ?” 

The hunter drew nigh him with a confident, rea- 
soning air, as if what he had to say would silence 
all objections, and replied — 

“ Why, lad, they tell me, that on the Big-lakes 
there’s the best of hunting, and a great range, with- 
out a white man on it, unless it may be one like my- 
self. I’m weary of living in clearings, and where 
the hammer is sounding in my ears from sunrise to 
sundown. And though I’m much bound to ye both, 
51 * 


606 


THE PIONEERS. 


children -1 wouldn’t say it if it was noi true — 1 
crave to go into the woods ag’in, I do.” 

u Woods !” echoed Elizabeth, trembling with hei 
feelings ; u do you not call these endless forest? 
woods ?” 

“ Ah ! child, these be nothing to a man that’s 
used to the wilderness. I have took but little com- 
fort sin’ your father come on with his settlers ; but 
1 wouldn’t go far, while the life was in the body 
that lies under the sod there. But now he’s gone, 
and Chingachgook is gone ; and you be both young- 
and happy. Yes ! the big house has rung with 
merriment this month past ! And now, I thought, 
was the time to try to get a little comfort, in the 
close of my days. Woods ! indeed ! 1 doesn’t call 
these woods, Madam Effingham, where I lose my- 
self, every day of my life, in the clearings.” 

“ If there be any thing wanting to your comfort,” 
cried Oliver, “ name it, Leather-stocking ; and if 
it be attainable, it is yours.” 

“ You mean all for the best, lad; I know it; 
and so does Madam, too ; but your ways isn’t my 
ways. ’Tis like the dead there, who thought, when 
the breath was in them, that one went east, and 
one went west, to find their heavens ; but they’ll 
meet at last ; and so shall we, children. — Yes, ind 
as you’ve begun, and we shall meet in the land of 
the just at last.” 

u This is so new ! so unexpected !” said Eliza- 
beth, in almost breathless excitement ; “ I had 
thought } r ou meant to live with us, and die with us, 
Natty.” 

“ Words are of no avail !” exclaimed her hus- 
band ; u the habits of forty years are not to be dis- 
possessed by the ties of a day. 1 know you too 
well to urge you further, Natty ; unless you wifi 
let me build you a hut, on one of the distant hills. 


THE PIONEERS. 607 

whore we can sometimes see you, and know that 
you are comfortable.” 

“ Don’t fear the Leather-stocking, children ; God 
will see that his days be provided for, and his ind 
happy. I know you mean all for the best, but oui 
ways doesn’t agree. I love the woods, and ye 
relish the face of man ; 1 eat 4 when hungry, and 
drink when a-dry, and ye keep stated hours and 
rules ; nay, nay, you even over-feed the dogsfdad, 
from pure kindness ; and bounds should be gaunty 
to run well. The meanest of God’s creaters be 
made for some use, and I’m form’d for the wilder- 
ness ; and, if ye love me, let me go where my soul 
craves to be ag’in !” 

The appeal was decisive ; not another word of 
entreaty for him to remain was then uttered ; but 
Elizabeth bent her head to her bosom and wept, 
while her husband dashed away the tears from his 
eyes, and, with hands that almost refused to per- 
form their office, he produced his pocket-book, and 
extended a parcel of bank-notes to the hunter. 

“ Take these,” he said, u at least, take these ; 
secure them about your person, and, in the hour of 
need, they will do you good service.” 

The old man took the notes, and examined them 
with a curious eye, when he said — 

u This, then, is some of the new r -fashioned mo- 
ney that they’ve been making at Albany, out of 
paper ! It can’t be worth much to they that hasn’t 
laming ! No, no, lad — take back the stuff ; it will 
do me no sarvice. I took kear*to get all the 
Frenchman’s powder, afore he broke up, and they 
say lead grows where I’m going. It isn’t even fit 
for wads, seeing that 1 use none but leather ! — 
Madam Effingham, let an old man kiss your hand, 
and wish God’s choicest blessings on you ai d 
your’n ” 


m 


THE PIONEERS. 


“ Once more let me beseech you, stay !” cried 
Elizabeth. “ Do not, Leather-stocking, leave me 
to grieve for the man, who has twice rescued me 
from death, and who has served those I love so 
faithfully. For my sake, if not for your own, stay 
1 shall see you in those frightful dreams that still 
haunt my nights, dying in poverty and age, by the 
side of those terrific beasts you slew. There will 
be natevil, that sickness, want, and solitude can in- 
flict, that my fancy will not conjure as your fate. 
Stay with us, old man ; if not for your own sake, 
at least for ours.” 

“ Such thoughts and hitter dreams, Madam Ef- 
fingham,” returned the hunter, solemnly, “ will 
never haunt an innocent parson long. They’ll pass 
away with God’s pleasure. And if the cat-a-mounts 
he yet brought to your eyes in sleep, ’tis not for 
my sake, but to sfiow you the power of him that 
led me there to save you. Trust in God, Madam, 
and your honourable husband, and the thoughts for 
an old man like me can never be long nor bitter. 
I pray that the Lord will keep you in mind — the 
Lord that lives in clearings as well as in the wilder- 
ness — and bless you, and all that belong to you, 
from this time, till the great day when the whites 
shall meet the red-skins in judgment, and justice 
shall be the law, and not power.” 

Elizabeth raised her head, and offered her co- 
lourless cheek to his salute, when he lifted his cap, 
and touched it respectfully. His hand was grasped 
with convulsive fervour by the youth, who con- 
tinued silent. The hunter prepared himself for 
his journey, drawing his belt tighter, and wasting 
his moments in the little reluctant movements of a 
sorrowful departure. Once or twice he essayed to 
speak, but a rising in his throat prevented it. At 
ength he shouldered his rifle, and cried with a 


THE PIONEERS. 


t>0<) 


clear huntsman’s call, that echoed through the 
woods — 

“ He-e-e-re, he-e-e-re, pups — away, dogs, away; 
— ye’ll be foot-sore afore ye see the ind of the 
journey !” 

The hounds leaped from the earth at his cry, 
and, scenting around the graves and the silent pair, 
as if conscious of their own destination, they fol- 
lowed humbly at the heels of their master. A short 
pause succeeded, during which even the youth con- 
cealed his face on his grandfather’s tomb. When 
the pride of manhood, however, had suppressed the 
feelings of nature, he turned to renew his entrea- 
ties, but saw that the cemetery was occupied only 
by himself and his wife. 

w He is gone !” cried Effingham. 

Elizabeth raised her face, and saw the old hunter 
standing, looking back for a moment, on the verge 
of the wood. As he caught their glances, he drew 
his hard hand hastily across his eyes again, waved 
it on high for an adieu, and, uttering a forced cry 
to his dogs, who were crouching at his feet, he en- 
tered the forest. 

This was the last that they ever saw of the Lea- 
ther-stocking, whose rapid movements preceded 
the pursuit which Judge Temple both ordered and 
conducted He had gone far towards the setting 
sun, — the foremost in that band of Pioneers, who 
are opening the way for the march of our nation 
dcioss the continent. 


THE END 































































































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